Timber floors are among the most rewarding. They hold their elegant appearance over time, and even adopt new character as they age. But without the right maintenance, timber floors can quickly deteriorate. So how do you polish and maintain your timber floors? There are a few different approaches you can take, depending on the type of timber used in your floors. However, we like to stick to the tried and tested methods. Here’s how to polish and maintain your timber floors – straight from the experts!
Before you focus on how to polish timber floors, you need to make sure they’re well-maintained
Before learning a lot about how to polish timber floors, you need to start with learning how to maintain them. Timber floor maintenance has a spectrum: some maintenance tasks need to be done weekly, some monthly, and even every decade. Unsurprisingly, the weekly and monthly maintenance is the easy stuff. And that’s why you should focus on it to begin with. Things like sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping your timber floors will keep them polished and lustrous for a surprisingly long time.
How to polish timber floors the easy way: you can buff many finishes to restore shine
If you do all the weekly maintenance, then you won’t need to think about how to polish your timber floors for a while. But, eventually, the time will come when their shine is dulled a little. So what can you do? Our advice is to start with a simple buff before you resort to a complete overhaul. Often, buffing your timber floor will restore its beautiful polish and you can simply go back to your weekly maintenance regime. Have a chat to the flooring experts before you get started on the buffing too. They will fill you in on the best products and techniques.
If a buff doesn’t restore that lovely lustre, you may need to polish the timber floors: here’s how
If the buff by itself doesn’t quite get that shine back as you wanted it to, it may be time to think about how to polish your timber floors. Generally, polishing timber floors requires a suitable wax or polish, and a buff. But before you get started, a good sweep, vacuum and mop is in order. This will remove imperfections and give your polish a good surface to settle on. Your choice of polish or wax will depend on the type of timber floor you have, as well. So it’s a good idea to get some expert advice when you’re making that decision.
When you polish timber floors, never use products or polish meant for tiles|
Any expert advice on how to polish timber floors will start with the same point: never use tile polish! Tile polish is far harsher than timber wax or timber polish. If you use tile polish on your timber floors, the chemicals in it could have an adverse effect on your timber. The results could range from discolouration, to deterioration. So check the label and check again – make sure you have a suitable polishing product for your timber floors!
Even those who know how to polish timber floors need to sand and recoat theirs every decade or so
We mentioned earlier that some timber floor maintenance is necessary about once every decade. And that’s true – timber floors normally need some extra love when they reach that age. Generally, this takes the form of a complete sand and recoat. If your timber floors are at that stage, a simple polish probably won’t quite suffice. Don’t feel bad though – that’s an inevitable stage of timber floor ownership. No matter how well you take care of it, a sand and recoat will be necessary at some point in time. The rewards are well worth it though – this simple job will have your floor back to new again!
For more information on how to polish timber floors, get in touch!
