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Post by dustawaits on Jan 5, 2019 15:02:05 GMT
My hardwood floors are beginning to look dry. I stripped the living room floor 8 years ago when I had to use a heat gun to removed the melded carpet pad from the floor. Always have used Murphy’s oil to mop the floor and usually on my knees with a cloth.
Is there an oil I could use to help the dryness?
It is not that the house is dry!!! Always this house has a min,50% to high of 73% humidity. Can’t say the floors are ever damp but the upper air certainly is.
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Post by Woodpecker on Jan 5, 2019 21:58:00 GMT
What type of wood? I have oak floors & have only used Murphy’s Oil soap, too. The company who did our floors said not to use anything but water. I didn’t listen to him & mine still look good after 35 years.
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Post by Cabin Fever on Jan 6, 2019 1:23:03 GMT
Our entire home has 100yo barnwood (yellow pine) floors. My wife adds Milsek Furniture Polish & Multi-Purpose Cleaner to the water that she mops the floors with. It keeps the floors shiny and new. From the manufacturer: www.milsek.com/products/furniture-polish/
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Post by merks on Jan 6, 2019 13:55:32 GMT
I use Old English lemon oil on my floors. Our house was built in 1947. Not sure what type of wood they are, but there is no varnish of any type left on them. The oil does not make them shine really, but my floors soak it up and the oil brings out the natural beauty of all the color variations of the wood. It usually lasts about a month or so. I spread it using a swifter sweeper and the dry cloth they use. A sponge mop soaks up to much of the oil in it and that's a waste to me. They have it at Walmart for $3.47 for 16oz bottle. Walmart also carries the stuff Cabin Fever, posted for $9.97.
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Post by Jolly on Jan 6, 2019 14:24:43 GMT
If he doesn't drop by here, stop by Tom's place and ask him what he would recommend...Tom owned a decent sized flooring company in Dallas in a previous life and did a lot of hardwood floor work...
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Post by dustawaits on Jan 7, 2019 15:09:25 GMT
My hardwood floors ..are just that! Several types of oak, persimmon, hickory, walnut.... To me they are beautiful with the different lengths , 12” to 72” ., different colors of dark and light, gorgeous grains, straight, wavy, curled. I love hardwood! Not sure the age of the floors but the same floors are in the”new” addition as well os maybe 50’s 60s . But I think all the wood came off this place.
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Post by ceresone on Jan 7, 2019 15:58:37 GMT
I had to post. I too have all hardwood floors. And each time I read the pos . Hardwood floors. Dustawaits, I felt guilty not getting up and cleaning.. Just kidding, Dust
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Mar 20, 2019 22:30:56 GMT
dustawaits, Sorry I missed seeing this thread earlier. Murphy's Oil Soap over time leaves a cloudy residue, the best solution to cut it is one part white vinegar, 5 parts water on a "damp" mop. It can be a real chore, but worth the effort to get back down to the original finish. Without knowing what finish is on the floor, it's difficult to suggest what to use for everyday maintenance, but Dura-Seal (Min-Wax) has a couple products that don't require machines to use. Generally touching up in the traffic areas is all that's needed. Do you know if it originally had a polyurethane or wax finish? Is it a stained or natural look? Has the finish worn through in the traffic patterns?
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Post by dustawaits on Mar 29, 2019 14:37:21 GMT
Ozarks Tom,, when I moved here the carpet pad had melded to the floor. I used a heat gun and putty knife to remove it. It had a clear varnish that mostly came up with the heat and scraping. I did not put anything, wax etc on the floor afterward. Mainly because it needs a light sanding to remove the rest of the varnish. The carpet pad is gone...took 8 weeks of scraping each and every board . In some places the varnish would not come up.
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Mar 29, 2019 15:35:07 GMT
dustawaits , Wow! That's dedication! From your description of what's there now, and if you want a finish you don't have to do anything to except dust mop as needed (no other applications needed), here's what I would do. I'd strip all the Murphy's Oil Soap off. Then rent what's called a "square buff" machine to lightly sand the entire floor using an 80 grit sandpaper. It will get into corners, and much easier to control than a regular floor buffer. I'd vacuum, and tack rag to get all the dust up, then apply three coats of www.bona.com/en-US/Bona-Professional/Products/Coatings/Waterborne-Finishes-and-Sealers/Bona-Traffic-Naturale/ It's a little pricey, but being a "water-borne" product it dries quickly, whereas an oil based finish takes 24 hours for each coat. The easy way to apply it is to pour a line along your starting wall, and using a synthetic applicator on a pole, pull the applicator down the line at a "snowplow" angle, leaving another wet line at its edge, pouring out more as needed. Assuming you want to stay natural tone, which is the most forgiving for any marks or other imperfections in the board faces, this would give you a basically maintenance free finish for many, many years.
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Post by dustawaits on Mar 29, 2019 15:39:48 GMT
Ozarks Tom,Thank you, where can I probably find the square buff?
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Mar 29, 2019 16:59:05 GMT
Most any tool rental place.
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Post by Jolly on Mar 30, 2019 15:51:16 GMT
dustawaits , Wow! That's dedication! From your description of what's there now, and if you want a finish you don't have to do anything to except dust mop as needed (no other applications needed), here's what I would do. I'd strip all the Murphy's Oil Soap off. Then rent what's called a "square buff" machine to lightly sand the entire floor using an 80 grit sandpaper. It will get into corners, and much easier to control than a regular floor buffer. I'd vacuum, and tack rag to get all the dust up, then apply three coats of www.bona.com/en-US/Bona-Professional/Products/Coatings/Waterborne-Finishes-and-Sealers/Bona-Traffic-Naturale/ It's a little pricey, but being a "water-borne" product it dries quickly, whereas an oil based finish takes 24 hours for each coat. The easy way to apply it is to pour a line along your starting wall, and using a synthetic applicator on a pole, pull the applicator down the line at a "snowplow" angle, leaving another wet line at its edge, pouring out more as needed. Assuming you want to stay natural tone, which is the most forgiving for any marks or other imperfections in the board faces, this would give you a basically maintenance free finish for many, many years. I'm stealing this one. For little woodshop knick-knacks built for the home, I long ago switched to water-based poly. It speeds things up tremendously. For a homeowner doing a wood floor, this really looks like the way to do it.
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