Cleaning Old Floor Wax Off Pine

Sanding down the finish can drive the wax even deeper because the friction of sanding heats up the wax.

Cleaning old floor wax off pine.

Applying more wax only makes the problem worse. You ll have to clean the wax and oil soap off the floor before you sand or they ll gum up the sandpaper which is one reason why you shouldn t use these products. The softness of pine will be an advantage and a flight grit on your floor sander 100 or 120 grit will quickly wear off the surface and remove surface blemishes. Leave the floor wax removing chemicals on the surface of the floor for as long as the directions on the bottle label indicate.

Going over an area of about 3 x 3 apply the linoleum floor wax remover to the surface of the floor. Many floor cleaning products have a wax that adds shine and gloss to a vinyl or linoleum floor. There is more than one way to remove wax from an existing finish but none guarantee success. Many newer floor manufacturers recommend.

Spray the floor with a small amount of hardwood floor cleaner. You need to use special techniques for cleaning heavily soiled hardwood floors without a finish. Wax can penetrate the wood making future paint or stain finishes or touch ups difficult or impossible. Then use plain water but as little of it as possible so the floor doesn t absorb much if any.

Waxed floors such as linoleum or vinyl can flake or become yellow due to age or too many layers of wax. If you have an old untreated pine floor start by dusting and vacuuming the floor as above. When wax builds up on vinyl and linoleum flooring it can result in a discolored yellow tone. These products protect the floor from stains by putting a nearly impenetrable layer of wax on top of the floor so that substances that would stain the floor cannot come into contact with the actual floor.

Clean a sound finish with a hardwood cleaner. Unfinished wood or floors with worn down finish are a very different story and require another approach. Remove all furniture and floor coverings and take off your shoes or cover them with booties. Then a fresh layer of wax can be applied to the clean floor to give a fresh clean start.

If you have laminate floors you should have a good vacuum with a soft floor cleaning attachment that doesn t have a spinning rotor. The original wax must be removed first. If your old flooring doesn t have any serious damage it might just require a simple cleaning buffing and resealing. Once it is time to remove the wax removing chemicals do so according to manufacturer s instructions.

This section looks at the best methods of cleaning old wood floors that need a new coat of finish. The mop should be entirely wrung out before being applied to the flooring. Nothing adheres well to wax and even after cleaning the wood grain can become contaminated.