How To Clean Waxed Hardwood Floors: A Definitive Guide

If you have waxed hardwood floors in your house, cleaning them would surely be a nuisance.

Finding the right product and ensuring that it will be okay with the finishing you have laid on your floors is really frustrating.

To clean waxed hardwood floors, you should start by sweeping or vacuuming to remove any loose dirt or debris. Then, mix a small amount of mild soap or hardwood floor cleaner with warm water, and use a damp mop to clean the floors.

Avoid using excess water or harsh cleaners, as they can damage the wax coating. Once the floors are clean, you can apply a new coat of wax to restore shine and protection.

Let’s dive into the in-depth guide on how to clean waxed hardwood floors naturally!

How To Clean Waxed Hardwood Floors Naturally?

You can clean waxed hardwood floors naturally with vinegar and water. However, you should also maintain a cleaning pattern for your waxed hardwood floors.

It is necessary to clean your waxed hardwood floors regularly to avoid wax buildups and remove any excess substances on the floor that might cause deterioration.

There is a well-calculated cleaning method that will save you a lot of time and effort to prevent any damage to your wax finishes or the hardwood floors. Make sure you follow this routine for the best results.

Also Read: How To Make Hardwood Floors Shine Without Wax?

Daily Cleaning

Cleaning your waxed hardwood floors on a daily basis is inevitable. You will only allow dirt and dust build-ups if you do not clean them daily.

This will keep the dust and dirt away and prevent molds from building up, which can ruin the wood’s surface and cause the wax to crack in places and become dark.

If you want to know the general cleaning routine of regular hardwood floors, this guide on how often should you clean hardwood floors can surely help you out!

Besides, if you follow this routine properly, you will see visible results in the overall cleanliness of the floor, and a great number will decrease the chances of damage to the floors and the wax finishes.

Firstly, it is important that you vacuum the floor every day when you wake up.

Cleaning the floor early in the morning will prevent any dust or dirt from last night from staying on the surface all day.

Vacuuming is an integral part of cleaning hardwood floors. If you have pets at home, it is extremely crucial that you vacuum once a week.

Having carpets, rugs, or pets at home might mean a lot of lint and fur on the floor.

Cleaning this is extremely necessary if you want to preserve the health of your wooden floors and wax finishes.

Besides, it is important for your health, and the fur and lint residues can make you ill if not removed on time.

Once you start to vacuum the floor, ensure your vacuuming is thorough, and you go over the entire surface at least twice.

Furthermore, the model of your vacuum can play an integral role in determining how well your wooden floor would be cleaned.

However, if you ignore cheeky spaces, you may see a quick change in color in the cleaned and uncleaned surfaces.

Dust accumulation can get deeper into the surface of the wood and cause the color to fade and the texture to be spoiled.

Moreover, it also keeps the surface spotless and ensures there isn’t a chance of stubborn stains on the floor. And if there are, you must try to wipe them off immediately.

Besides, this also removes any fur or lint on the floors, which might get stuck to the waxed finishes and affect the spotless look on your floors.

Moreover, once you’re finished vacuuming all the places and under the furniture, you must dry-mop the surface before you sleep.

This would eliminate all the dust that might have entered the house during the day and disallow it from staying over the surface.

Besides, mopping will remove any remnants on the floor that might have fallen or been left out during the day.

Hence, make this a part of your routine, and your floor will always be clean.

However, if this work is a bit tiresome or you don’t have enough time, you can alternate days between dry mopping and vacuuming.

You May Also Find Helpful: How To Wax Hardwood Floors Naturally

Weekly Cleaning

Wet mopping is one of the greatest enemies of waxed hardwood floors, as wax and water are incompatible.

What you can do, however, for further cleaning is to use a damp microfiber cloth and wipe the floor manually.

The moisture can attract all the dust, if any, and ensure a shine on your hardwood floors.

However, if cleaning the floor manually with only a damp cloth is too much of a hectic task, you can also use a steam mop or Swiffer.

If you are using a steam mop or don’t have any other option except for wet mopping, make sure to wring it out thoroughly before you attempt to clean the floors.

Wax can get soft and lose its hardness when it comes to water. Moreover, the wax getting soft can mean that it loses its strength against actions of wear and tear and can even become soft and stick to your shoes while you walk on it.

This can rob the hardwood floors of protection and expose them to all possible dangers.

Hence, it is important to keep the surface clear of water and only clean it with a damp cloth or a wrung-out mop.

Explore: Should You Wax Hardwood Floors: A Comprehensive Guide

Monthly Cleaning

Once every one to two months, you must deep clean your hardwood floor to sustain its shine and lush look.

Waxed hardwood floors are to be cleaned with complete care, so ensure you are doing it correctly with a product or solution that supports the surface.

For a waxed floor, you can use cleaning agents or homemade deep cleaning solutions, and you do not have to worry about the floor getting too wet or the wax layer getting corroded.

However, suppose your floor is recently sealed, and you must clean it for the first time.

In that case, you can’t go for any level of wetness other than dampness, and you won’t be able to use cleaning agents or homemade solutions safely.

This is because the water and other harsh ingredients of cleaning agents will destroy the wax layer and the surface of your hardwood floor, making it weak as moisture can get looked inside of the wood through the pores and cause the wood to chip or swell up.

Also Read: How To Clean And Deodorize Hardwood Floors?

How Do You Get Stains Out Of Waxed Hardwood Floors?

You can either use a cleaning solution such as bona pro or pine-sol or scrub and sand the area a bit and apply more wax on it. Getting stains out of waxed hardwood floors is a relatively easy task.

The greatest benefit of sealing our hardwood floors with wax is that it allows you to clean the floor thoroughly without getting wasted.

Moreover, it lets you spot-repair, so you don’t have to strip off the entire finish to clean or repair a small area.

All you must do is try to scrub out the stain first; if that doesn’t work, you can sand the area a bit to the point where the stained wax is removed.

As there is a layer on the top, the chances of the stain going deep into your hardwood floors are very low. Hence, the area underneath should be clean once you remove the stained wax.

Then, you must apply a small amount of wax (make sure to use the same type of wax you used before; solid/liquid?) in the area and allow it to dry.

Then buff the small area so it matches the appearance of the rest of the floor.

Can You Use Vinegar On A Waxed Floor?

Using vinegar on waxed wooden surfaces is a highly good idea. You can dip a cloth in a solution of 1 part vinegar and 1 part liquid paraffin and clean the surface with it for the most desirable results.

This will clean your waxed hardwood floors, give them a shine, and buff them up for all the better reasons.

Don’t Miss: What Not To Use On Hardwood Floors?

How Do You Get Black Marks Off Waxed Floors?

Black marks on the surface of waxed hardwood floors can easily be treated with bleach. Hydrogen peroxide is renowned for removing black stains from hardwood floors.

Wood is a highly porous substance, so unwanted substances can often seep in and settle. Some of these might be causing the black marks.

Besides, the wax buildup can also lead to black marks on your hardwood floors, and hydrogen peroxide is good at cleaning wooden floors.

Odorant molecules are tiny, flammable particles that get inside the wood and evade the cleansing power of standard cleaners.

Due to its tiny molecular size, hydrogen peroxide works with and eliminates these particles.

Since hydrogen peroxide is a mild oxygenating bleach, you can combine 1 cup of the cleaning-grade, 35 percent hydrogen peroxide solution with 1 gallon of water to create a safe floor-cleaning fluid for everyday use.

A gallon of hot water can be combined with one or two teaspoons of sodium percarbonate as an alternative.

It is simple to create a more concentrated peroxide solution using sodium percarbonate, which produces hydrogen peroxide when combined with water.

Check the label before buying one of these products. It is the primary component in many industrial oxygen bleach products.

How Do You Remove Water Stains From Waxed Wood Floors?

Ammonia is a suitable option to remove such stains and restore the original shine to your waxed hardwood floors.

Water stains often cause the waxed floors to become cloudy or hazy. Use a cloth mop to apply the solution to your surface by combining 1 cup of ammonium with 1 gallon of water.

You must be extremely cautious not to use excessive water to avoid damaging your floors. Yet, this solution will eliminate the buildup on your floors.

Ammonia usage necessitates taking precautions. Always use diluted ammonia, and avoid mixing it with chlorine because it can produce toxic fumes.

Now there are steps to remove the cloudy appearance on wood surfaces using ammonia.

Firstly, it is best to remove extra grime and dust by either sweeping or using a dust mop. While a vacuum can also be a good option, you must choose what suits you the best.

Then, you need to pour lukewarm water into the bucket and mix a cup of the ammonia solution.

Once you have the solutions ready, dip the mop in the bucket but make sure to wring it out completely so it is only damp.

As discussed earlier, excessive water can drastically affect the health of your waxed hardwood floors.

Moreover, you must rub the stained area softly in a clockwise direction along the wood’s grain. However, it is not suitable to let the ammonia solution sit on your hardwood floors for too long.

Hence, it would be best if you rinsed your floor completely to eliminate any ammonia buildup.

How Do You Clean Waxed Tiles?

You can easily use a wet Swiffer on waxed tiles to clean any dirt and grim from the surface. Using wet items on tiled floors, particularly waxed tile floors with pricey sealants is frowned upon.

Swiffer performs excellently on the tile surface and can be used without hesitation. Typically, indoor tiles have a glossy, smooth surface.

In contrast, outdoor ones, such as porch tiles, frequently have a rougher surface finish, a harsher grain, or aren’t coated. Swiffer’s cleaning products perform well on both types of tiled surfaces.

Overall, Swiffer is excellent for cleaning surfaces. Therefore, you surely can use these mops on tiles.

How Do You Get Black Off Hardwood Floors?

Due to its acidic nature, tea is an amazing cleaner and shiner to get black off hardwood floors.

This technique is fairly simple and can benefit you in various ways. Firstly, it is fairly easy and can be done in minutes; you must brew the tea and clean the floors.

Secondly, it is quite cheap and convenient compared to other solutions.

Therefore, it is a suitable method to restore the shine of your waxed hardwood floors, which might have been lost due to the darkened appearance.

Final Thoughts

Maintaining an effective routine for your hardwood floors is a highly suitable way to keep them clean.

Not only does it keep the health of your hardwood floors in check but also allows the wax to increase its longevity and give optimum protection to your hardwood floors.

Moreover, cleaning stains, and black marks, or buffing your waxed hardwood floors is also fairly easy with the help of natural or commercial cleaning products.

But whatever you choose, make sure to check whether it is safe for your hardwood floors or not.

If you are confused about how to clean your waxed hardwood floors, follow all the guidelines mentioned above, and you will be just fine.