Hardwood floors are a popular flooring choice among many home owners due to the extra shiny finish they introduce to any given space. A lot of people apply a wax coating to wood floors as it provides a natural barrier that safeguards against moisture invasion and prolongs the life of flooring. Although this top coat for wood floors has gained a widespread acceptance, it tends to accumulate microscopic dirt particles over time making hardwood floors dull and uninviting.
Furthermore, wax doesn’t really harden and will soon collect clouds of dirt enough to tarnish the finish. And as if not enough, it will eventually turn color to yellow with age, thus calling for regular deep cleaning of the wooden floors before being sealed or re-waxed. There’s no reason to worry anyways – because we’re here to show you what you should do to get wax off your precious wood floors.
With a few simple steps and the right products, it’s possible to strip off that hazy wax buildup and restore the initial looks of your hardwood floors. Today, we’re going to focus on some sure-fire DIY ways on how to get wax off the floor easily. Without wasting more time, we’ll get started right away.
Table of Contents
Necessary Supplies for Getting Wax off Hardwood Floors
- Broom & dust pan
- Knee pads
- Microfiber cloths
- Rubber gloves
- Bucket and mop
- 000 steel wool
- Mineral spirits
Steps to take -
1. Sweep and mop the floor
Start by sweeping your hardwood floor with a broom to remove loose dust, dirt, and other debris lying on the surface. Then, having put on your rubber gloves, mop the wood floor with warm water. Mopping with warm water helps clear any residual grime sitting on the wood’s surface.
2. Rub the floor with mineral spirits
Moisten a cloth with mineral spirits (also called white mineral spirits) and rub it into the wax coating in the direction of the wood grain. It’s best to rub down a small section (such as a 2-square foot section of wood floor) to ensure all the wax is eliminated. Also, try not to move onto a new floor section until all the wax has come out.
As soon as one section of the cloth becomes dirty, pour mineral spirits onto another clean section of the cloth and keep rubbing. As you keep going, you’ll notice the cloth changes to a yellow hue, which signifies the wax is coming off the floor. Continue rubbing with mineral spirits until the dampened cloth comes up clean, which shows that all the wax has vanished from the section, and now you can move on to a new floor section.
3. Go over the area once again with 000 steel wood and mineral spirits
Once you’re satisfied that all the wax has been removed and the moistened cloth comes out clean, now it’s time to go over the area once more with a pad of steel wool and mineral spirits. So, moisten a pad of steel wool with the same mineral oil and work it over the same area of flooring. Make sure to concentrate on rubbing along the wood grain.
Furthermore, never forget to moisten the cracks along the boards while the solvent is still wet in order to dissolve the wax in there. You can use a rag to rub the rest of the wax off your wood floor. A 000 steel wool moistened with mineral spirits helps to remove waxy residue from the wood gain – even if your wood floor has a V-groove.
4. Move on to the next section
Having ascertained that the entire wax layer has come off, go ahead and strip off the remaining waxy residue on the flooring. You’ll repeat this process with the next section of flooring using the mineral spirits along with both a steel wool pad and a cloth.
In order to be easy for you to track what flooring section you’re done with and places that still need treatment, it would be wise to move along in a logical pattern. Use a gardening cushion or thick knee pads to protect your knees and shins as you continue with the process of getting wax off the hardwood flooring.
5. Mop once again with hot water and dry the floor
After stripping all the wax from the whole wood flooring surface, it’s vital to give a final cleanup by mopping the floor with hot water. Make sure to dry any remaining water with a rag because standing water can damage the finish with ease. Dry the surface of hardwood floors with a microfiber cloth on a dry mop to guarantee the best results – and try working in sections for best results.
Getting wax off hardwood floors can be an uphill task. But with a few inexpensive supplies and a little hard work, you’ve got all it takes to restore the original appearance of your hardwood floors. These easy removal methods will prove handy when it comes to getting wax off your wood floor.
