When it comes to maintaining the beauty and longevity of your hardwood floors, there are various options available. One of the classic methods is waxing and many of our clients routinely ask if they can wax their floors. In this blog, we’ll explore the different maintenance options for your hardwood floors and whether waxing is a suitable choice for your floors.
The Tradition of Waxing:
Waxing hardwood floors was once a common practice. It provided a protective layer, enhanced the wood’s natural beauty, and added a soft sheen. Traditional wax, often made from natural substances like beeswax, carnauba wax, and paraffin, was applied and buffed to create a polished finish. While waxing may give your hardwood floors an attractive sheen, it also has some downsides. Wax requires regular maintenance and reapplication to remain effective. Over time, it can become scuffed, scratched, and dull, necessitating frequent buffing and polishing.
Modern Hardwood Finishes:
As flooring technology evolved, so did the options for maintaining hardwood floors. Today, hardwood floors come with a variety of finishes that offer superior protection and durability. Most site finished floors typically have a urethane coating, either water-based or oil-based. Many of the factory finished floors have several layers of UV cured urethane coatings or aluminum oxide. Unlike wax, these finishes are applied as a liquid and when cured they provide a strong protective film that guards against scratches, stains, and moisture.
“This advancement in technology has largely made traditional waxing unnecessary for most homeowners.”
Hard-Wax Oils Explained:
There is a new and improved wax finish available to consumers today classified as penetrating hard-wax oils. This type of finish penetrates the fibers of the flooring plank and protect from within. This catalyzed finish is far more advanced than the waxes our grandmothers used to maintain their floors. Hard-wax oils are known for their low levels of VOC’s and cure extremely fast (within a day or two). They do however require more frequent maintenance applications than film-based coatings but come with the added benefit of not having to move all of your furniture out of the house since they blend so easily.
Choosing the Right Approach:
So, should hardwood floors be waxed? The answer is probably not unless you currently have a wax finish on your floor. It’s important to have a professional diagnose and possibly even test your current finish to understand the type of finish that is currently installed. If you have a natural oil or penetrating oil finish, you will want to apply a maintenance coat of oil. If your floor currently has a urethane, conversion varnish, or UV cured finish then we would recommend our clean and coat process to apply a maintenance coat of water-based urethane.
Conclusion:
Stay away from the cheap waxes, oils, soaps, polishes, and watered down urethane products found at your local big box retailer. These products will put you in a continuous cycle of application and will eventually make your floor very slippery and smudgy. Contact your local hardwood flooring professional to have the proper maintenance coat applied. They should be able to determine the type of finish on your floor and apply a coating that is compatible. This minimal investment will save you money in the long run and drastically reduce the amount of maintenance required on your floor.
Our Commitment To Clients
As flooring professionals, we strive to stay educated on the various flooring systems available on the market. We stay at the forefront of new advancements in the flooring industry through continued education and training courses provided by the National Wood Flooring Association. Our knowledge enables us to educate our clients on the pros and cons of various hardwood solutions. Our job is to listen to our clients and provide solutions that best fit their lifestyles. We provide easy and stress-free installations by staying informed, prioritizing clients’ needs, and setting proper expectations.
