Coating floors with wood will make our house look more cozy and elegant. However, the deformed and stained wood floors not only degrade the aesthetics of our house, but they also can cause injury to people walking on bare feet.
I have wasted money on repairing these ruined floors without receiving any promising result. However, things have changed recently.
To help you out, I would like to show you how to clean old damaged wood floors properly based on what I have attained through much research and effort. Scroll down now!
Table of Contents
How To Clean Old Damaged Wood Floors?
Before getting into the specific cleaning methods, I will show you crucial points to focus on before and after cleaning the deformed and stained floors. If you obey all these regulations, you can retain and maintain the perfect conditions of your floors.
What To Focus On When Cleaning Old Damaged Wood Floors?
Many people use faucet water mixed with cleaning solutions for non-wood floors to remove debris on wood ones during this process. This act is a serious mistake as this substance can do significant damage to woody items more than any other element like dust, bacteria, or stain.
Especially with damaged wood floors, the negative impact is much greater. It not only makes the floors tidy but also minimizes your chance to retain the proper condition of your wood floors back.
Nevertheless, not being compatible with liquid doesn’t mean wood floors will negatively react with an appropriate amount of refinishing chemicals. The polishing product contains specially processed elements that won’t cause any harm to the wood floors but takes its polished outlook back.
Instead of cleaning and fixing the wrecked floors, you can recoat them. This method is much more affordable than refinishing. The recoating procedures resemble refinishing, but the machines and chemicals needed for this job are simpler.
Step-By-Step Cleaning Tutorial
Now, I will give you some DIY methods to clean your wood floors.
#1. Using Diluted Lemon Juice
It would help if you didn’t solely use lemon juice but create a mixture of warm water or olive oil. A small amount of cleaning solution would work just fine with the lemon juice as long as you’ve made sure that the solutions are harmless to the wood floors.
In the cleaning mixture, each ingredient will play a specific role. The olive oil can make your floors shiny, while the lemon juice eliminates stains, dirt, and debris.
Here is the step-by-step tutorial on cleaning the damaged wood floors with diluted lemon juice:
– Firstly, you have to stir the mixture well in a bucket.
– The optimal proportion for mixture ingredients are four liters of water, one tsp of olive oil, two tsp of lemon juice, and some drops of extra chemicals.
– Pour the mixture into a spray bottle. If you don’t have a spray bottle, you can soak a towel/mop into the bucket. Then, please take out the towel/mop, squeezing the towel until it’s damp but not too wet.
– Wipe the damp towel/mop on the floor or spray the solution out to the floor.
– After wiping or spraying the whole floor with the mixture, you have to use another towel to absorb the excess water left on the floors. As mentioned above, liquidity is the most dangerous enemy of wood floors.
#2. Using Diluted Vinegar
Vinegar is a beneficial ingredient for both cooking and cleaning purposes, so it can help retrieve the optimal condition of the wood floors.
The vinegar’s acidity is even stronger than that of lemon, so it will face no difficulty wiping out grime, dirt, or debris. Besides, this cleaning substance is not harmful to your health or the environment.
Follows these steps to clean the old wood floors with diluted vinegar:
– Prepare a bucket with ten liters of warm water inside, then add in two tsp of vinegar.
– If your purpose is cleaning, this mixture is decent enough to complete your task. However, for further polishing the floors, you can add extra essential oil or olive oil.
– Soak a towel/mop into the bucket. Next, take the towel/mop out and remove the excess water.
– Properly mop the floors so that you can remove all the irritating germs and specks of dirt.
– Once you complete cleaning every spot of the floor, use another cloth/towel to mop up the water left on the floors.
#3. Using Baking Soda And Vinegar
The vinegar’s acidity, along with the soda’s bicarbonate, will create a remarkable effect to eliminate stains and dirt. As you can see, the steps for cleaning with diluted vinegar and diluted lemon juice are quite similar.
Still, the procedures will be different when cleaning with baking soda and vinegar.
– Combine vinegar and baking soda. You should balance the amount of these two ingredients for the most optimal cleaning impact.
– The mixture is in the form of paste instead of liquid like the two methods above. You need to evenly apply the paste all over the floors, especially the deteriorated spots.
– When the paste seems to be dry, remove it with mopping or a cotton towel.
How To Maintain Old Damaged Wood Floors After Cleaning?
It will be such a waste of time and effort if the wood floors’ condition decreases after cleaning. To avoid spending more time cleaning old damaged wood floors, you should know how to maintain the results of your cleaning task.
#1. Regularly Sweeping
Daily sweeping is the most effortless and economic way to exterminate the dust, debris, and dirt before they become harmful enough to ruin the wood floors. Besides sweeping by yourself, you can rely on support from automatic vacuum robots to save your time.
#2. Monthly Mop The Floor
Mopping will involve liquid, so you should carry out this method with care and not overuse it. What’s more, you should use proper cleaning solutions for mopping, not just casual water, because it won’t be enough. Lemon juice or diluted vinegar will be a wise option.
#3. Wiping Out Stain And Spill As Soon As Possible
When you accidentally spill drinks, food, or anything that may leave stains on the wood floors, you have to remove it immediately. You can use a piece of cloth or napkin to take out liquid stains.
If the stains become a bit harder, you can apply the homemade cleaning solution and the procedures I have listed above for the dirty spots only.
Bottom Lines
Having deteriorated wood floors in your house will make your house look shabby and bring the risk of health problems from the bacteria. For this reason, you should know how to clean old damaged wood floors to keep them hygienic and shiny.
From my own experience and trying, I have come up with procedures to clean the dirty wood floors and keep them spotless for longer use. Carefully follow my advice, and you can effortlessly complete your cleaning task.
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