by James Williams
Waxing the floor makes the surface less slippery, protects it, and adds a beautiful shine. You can assure a good looking and durable surface at your place just by waxing once or twice a year.
Previously, waxing required you to rub a paste on the floor while being on your knees and hands, but now, you can simply use a no-buff wax and apply it onto your floor with a mop.
- Prepare The Floor
- Remove Furniture From The Floor
- Follow Manufacturer's Instruction
- Keep Sweeping And Mopping
- Use A New Sponge Mop
- Line You Bucket And Fill With Wax
- Clean One Section At A Time
- Apply Additional Layers
- Wash The Tools Immediately
- Buff The Floor
- Two Buckets Are Better Than One
- Conclusion
Prepare The Floor
First, you have to determine whether the floor needs to get treated with wax or not. If the floor has already been treated, try to figure out which kind of product was used to do so. We call the synthetics ones as finish and that of the natural ones as wax. If you can't get the info of the product, examine the floor yourself consequently:
- Check the floor whether it does seem glossy or shiny.If you can't feel anything over the original material while rubbing against it, it has not been treated yet.
- Take a piece of cloth and dip it in paint thinner or mineral spirits. Now wipe a small portion of the floor with it. If the cloth turns brown or yellow, the floor has been waxed before.
- On the other hand, if no residue gets stuck to the cloth, the floor is finished.
Choose A Wax
Once you test your floor and get to know it has never been waxed, you can select a wax product that is suited for the material of your floor. The most popular one is polyurethane. It is a bit glossy, and each of the products will definitely appear a slight different from each other.
Therefore, do some research and decide which look you are hoping to get for your floor. If the floor has been treated before, choose the wax accordingly:
- Since it is very hard to remove wax completely, and you do not want to hire a professional to strip the wax, it is better not to use something synthetic for treating your floor.
- Get a floor machine with which a scrubbing pad is attached and then go over the floor with it. Later on, use the same kind of wax over the old one to improve the look. If you cannot figure out the type of wax used on your floor, you have to strip the old one entirely first.
- However, if you do not want to strip the previous wax, other than waxing, go for water-based silicone polish. Just sweep your floor and apply multiple layers of that polish all over the floor.
Remove Furniture From The Floor
Remove all your objects and furniture from the floor. But before doing that, determine which part you want to wax now and move things away from that particular side. Put some signs in the public areas to let others know the place will remain off for around eight hours.
Just to take more precaution, tape around that particular area where you have just waxed.
Follow Manufacturer's Instruction
Floor waxfirsthand experience
Keep Sweeping And Mopping
Sweep and mop your floor a lot. Pick up dirt and dust as much as you can. Whatever you cannot get off the floor is likely to get stick to the floor permanently while waxing. It will stay there unless some strips of the floor wax.
Use A New Sponge Mop
You can use any mop at other times, but make sure you are not using a used one while waxing your floor. Do not ever do it even if your used mop looks completely clean. Use a sponge mop and a brand new one since there is every possibility of dirt getting into the wax using a used one, which will eventually ruin the look.
Line You Bucket And Fill With Wax
Line the mop bucket that you are using with a trash bin. Also, fill it with floor wax. You can use the garbage bag so that the wax does not get caked onto your mop bucket and ruin it for good. You can skip this part if you are using a flat wax applicator mop.
Apply Wax To The Mop
Dip a sponge mop into the bowl of wax or maybe pour some of it onto the wax applicator mop. Press the mop into its wringer part against the side of the bucket if it is dripping. Make your mop damp with wax, but do not let it get wrung or dry, neither dripping.
Clean One Section At A Time
Choose a small section of the floor and apply the wax there at a time. Always start from the exact opposite end of your room from the door so that you would not have to cross the already waxed portion to get to the other side.
Besides, do not wax too large area at one go, and if you do that, there is more possibility of you skipping any spot or waxing unevenly.
On the other hand, if the very first layer gets too thick, it may ruin the whole process. As in, it would not set properly. Additionally, be very careful about not dripping excess amount of wax onto your floor and make sure you are using a damp mop but a soaked one.
Once you evenly cover one portion of the floor, mop all over it with broader strokes for making a smooth appearance. After that, go for mopping to the next section.
Let It Dry
Wait for a bit to dry it properly. This will take around thirty minutes or maybe a bit more than that. Let it get dried of natural air for about ten minutes; then you can direct a fan into the waxed floor so that it dries faster. But do not point it directly towards the floor. You can take a look at the label to know more about the estimation of drying time.
Apply Additional Layers
Check if the previous coat has completely dried, then again wax the floor. Always remember that you need to do it by dividing it into several sections and make a route to the door of the room.
The wax that you are using must have a recommended number of layers that you should put, but if it does not mention the number, three to four thin layers are ok.
Likewise, halt as soon as you notice that the wax has started to turn yellow. And to get a perfect finish, try to avoid stepping on or putting something onto the last coat for at least eight hours.
Wash The Tools Immediately
After you finished waxing, wash your tools immediately. If the wax sticking to your tools dries up, it will be tough to wash them off. The tools that you are hoping to use again scrub off the wax and wash them with soap and hot water.
Buff The Floor
If you think the wax needs the floor to get buffed, do that. Some waxes are no-buff and stay shiny without you putting any effort. For those other waxes which are not 'no-buff', they require polishing.
However, you can do the polishing job with a burnishing machine or a buffing pad. If you do not want to use some device, go for a terry cloth towel. The piece of cloth should be dry.
Accordingly, make circular motion while polishing the floor. Tie that piece of the towel around the head of a dry mop. And while buffing, you do not have to attach the buffing pad under the brush of your floor machine for buffing the floor.
Two Buckets Are Better Than One
This one is not a necessity but can make a big difference. Take two buckets, one for the cleaner and one for rinsing. Dip the dirty mop into the rinsing bucket so that it does not mix up with a detergent bucket and contaminate it.
Change either bucket when the water becomes too dirty, replace it with clean water. As your mop water gets filled with dirt and germs, dispose of it down your toilet.
Conclusion
Once the whole process is complete, your floor is perfectly waxed, and everything is clean. You will notice your waxed floor looks fantastic.
Similarly, if you want to improve the look of your floor, i.e. your tile, hardwood or linoleum floor, waxing and cleaning them regularly can undoubtedly provide with the protective layer. Thus, it will make them durable and assure they look great for a long time.
At the same time, it is true that you need to be very careful while waxing your floor. Moreover, you have to be extra careful with its maintenance because not taking proper care of your waxed floor will turn your hard work goes in veins.
About James Williams
Hi, This is James from HomerDIY. I have great experience in writing about everything related to Pump and DIY tools. For the last few years, I am researching the different types of tools and sharing my opinion on this blog.
