Hardwood floors are meant to shine, and if you are not providing them with the right means, you are performing injustice with your expensive floors.
Many homeowners want their hardwood floors to shine like they are wet but can’t just get it right.
No matter what they do, their hardwood floors will not give them the desired level of shine, and if they do, the shine will go away almost instantly.
The best way to make your hardwood floors shine like they are wet is to buff the floors and use an oil-based product as a finish that will give them the glossy look they desire and retain for an extended time. The glossy look will reflect much light, which will, in turn, enhance the impression of wetness on your hardwood floors.
Stay tuned to learn the best ways to make hardwood floors shine like they are wet which I am going to discuss in detail.
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How To Make Hardwood Floors Shine Like They Are Wet? – Top 5 Ways
Who doesn’t like a shining hardwood floor? Making your hardwood floors shine like they are wet is the dream of every homeowner with hardwood flooring.
To your surprise, making hardwood floors shine is not difficult and can be done using both commercial and homemade remedies.
If you were also looking for easy ways to make your hardwood floors shine, here are 5 of them you can implement almost immediately.
Use An Oil Soap Cleaner
Wood cleaners and polishes with an oil soap finish are the best-suited products if you want that wet, shiny look on your hardwood floors.
Oil-based soap cleaners not only clean your hardwood floors but also give them the glossy finish you desire so badly.
An oil-based cleaner is suitable for both porous and non-porous surfaces as it does not affect the non-porous surfaces in any way and forms a protective layer over the porous wood.
This prevents unwanted substances from interacting with the surface; hence, the wet shine is retained for an extended time.
If you are worried about finding such a product, rest assured, as we’ve got you covered.
One of the most suitable products featuring an oil-based finish is Murphy’s Oil Soap, an excellent hardwood floor shiner.
Polish Every Week
If you want your floors to sustain the shiny wet look, make sure you polish them now and then. You can either use a commercial product bought from the market or make a wood polishing solution at home.
You can’t expect to sustain a shiny look on your hardwood floors without shining the surface every week.
It is crucial to clean and polish your floors every week to prevent the accumulation of dust, dirt, and grime, which might hinder the spotless look of your floors.
If you want to use a commercial product, Bona and Pine-sol are your go-to cleaners and polishers in the market.
Not only do they clean and disinfect your hardwood floors, but they also help enrich their luster, so the shiny look is enhanced to the point where it starts to look as if the floor is wet.
However, if you want to use a natural homemade solution, you can use vinegar, water, and olive oil to give your hardwood floors the desired shine.
This natural solution works wonders if you want an unmatched shine on your floors.
The vinegar cleans and detoxifies the surface, removing any impurities, whereas the olive oil works as a polish and gives the surface a shiny appearance.
Moreover, it also develops a protective coat on the top, so you get two birds with one stone.
Dry-Mop Daily
If you want your hardwood floors to sustain their shine and ensure that the wet look remains for a longer period, you must dry-mop your floors every day.
Dust is the biggest enemy of shiny hardwood floors. You might’ve deep cleaned and polished your floors for a few hours, but to your surprise, the floors can look dirty again and would’ve lost their shine due to the dust accumulated on top.
You can either use a regular mop, a Bona, a Swiffer, or even a regular lint-free cloth for dry mopping purposes. Swiffer is effective for mopping.
The goal is to prevent dust from accumulating on the surface and becoming a deterrent to the wet shiny look of your floors.
Hence, when you mop your floors daily, you will remove all this dust and improve the look of your floors by a major factor.
If you don’t want to mop or if you think it is too much of a hassle to do, you can also vacuum the floor.
Vacuuming does the same job, but you will have to make sure you give the floor 2-3 vacuum runs to eliminate all the dust.
Buff Your Floors
To achieve the wet shiny look, you must buff the floors first to refresh the finish and become clear again.
If your hardwood floors feature a wax finish or anything similar, it is highly possible that the finish has become hazy for some time, and your floors look cloudy.
I have shared different methods for removing cloudiness from hardwood floors that I encourage you to read.
So buffing the hardwood floors is necessary for shine, and if you ignore this step, you may not be able to see shiny hardwood floors despite all your efforts.
You must get a lint-free cloth and rub the floors with it, portion by portion until they are buffed.
If you don’t want to do the job manually, rent an electric buffer from your local hardware or electric store and get the recommended buffer pads.
Then, you can buff your floors with the machine in no time, and once you are done, you will notice visible differences.
Make sure to buff the floors before any polishing or cleaning session, as you will need to clean the floors one more time once they have been buffed.
After you’ve buffed the floors, you can proceed to polish or clean them, and you will surely have the shiny wet look that you desire.
Use A Dishwashing Detergent
Dishwashing liquid gives hardwood floors the best shine possible and will surely help attain the wet shiny look you want on your wooden floors.
All you must do is mix 2 tbsp dishwashing liquid in 1 gallon of water and use a mop to clean the floors.
Make sure to wring the mop thoroughly to prevent any unnecessary exposure to moisture.
Once you are done, you will see a shine on your hardwood floors which will not go away easily.
Dishwashing liquid has many suitable qualities that benefit the luster of hardwood floors, making them shine more after every use.
Try this method if you want to make your wooden floors shine like they are wet.
This might sound like an absurd idea, but it is totally worth a shot as it is tested and proven.
What Oil Makes Hardwood Floors Shine?
Vegetables and olive oil are the best shiners for hardwood floors. Both of these can be used in combination with various other items, such as diluted vinegar and more.
Their primary purpose is to condition the wood and lock in necessary moisture.
This moisture, combined with a layer of oil on top, gives the shiny wet look which many homeowners desire.
Not only do they make the hardwood floors shine, but they also nourish the wood and keep the fibers in the best health possible.
This also increases the longevity of the wood and gives it protection against various factors of wear and tear.
You May Also Like: Waxed Hardwood Floors Versus Polyurethane: Which Finish?
How To Make Hardwood Floors Shine Without Refinishing?
The most appropriate way to make your hardwood floors shine if you don’t want to finish them is to use vegetable oil and white vinegar.
Both of these items are used to polish hardwood floors and make them new again.
While vinegar disinfects and detoxifies the floors, ensuring no impurities remain, which might lower the shine again, vegetable oil gives the wood its lost moisture and forms a protective film on top to reflect anything unnecessary from coming in contact with your hardwood floors.
Related: How To Clean Waxed Hardwood Floors: A Definitive Guide
Final Thoughts
Making your hardwood floors shine like they are wet is a task that must be taken up by every homeowner.
It is your responsibility to look after your floors and ensure that they are kept in the best health possible.
If you have recently installed hardwood flooring or moved into a house that already has hardwood flooring and you want to make it shine, follow the steps mentioned above.
You can easily make your floors glossy and spotless through these techniques so start today and make sure you don’t miss out on the extravagant appearance they give to your floors.
As a co-creator of FlooringFlow.com, Emma Sophia comes on board to answer all your questions related to any flooring problems. Together with John Henry, she’s gained extensive experience in fixing many flooring problems in their own house as well as in friends and family’s. Now, she wants to share her knowledge that she gained during floor remodeling, restoring, and DIY projects.
