Why Some Cleaning Products Make Wood Floors Look Dull and Dirty

Have you experienced having your timber floor look dull and dirty despite your consistent effort in cleaning them?

When you want to make your timber floor sparkle, products like Pledge and Long Life 4 in 1 do an amazing job, but there is too much of a good thing!

Pledge and Long Life both contain a wax polish which is what helps gives your floor its shine. The wax adheres to the floor, creating a fine film. Initially, your floor is guaranteed to look great, but when the film of wax builds up, the results can be ugly.

How do I know if My Floor Cleaner Contains a Wax Polish?

Wax is used in floor cleaners to increase light reflection and make the floor look shiny. If your cleaning product promises to make your floor shine, then it probably contains a wax

What Happens When There’s Too Much Wax on my Floor?

After repeated cleaning with a wax polish, your floor will start to look dull. The result is a grimy, sticky look that can’t be removed with repeated cleaning. The floor will look great straight after cleaning, but once the floor has dried and is subject to foot traffic it will start to look like the photos below:

When the shine of the wax goes away, your floor will start looking like this, dull and lifeless.

After a while, the wax builds and attracts dirt, creating a dark, sticky film.

When we get 20 years of wax built up on the floor, it looks like this. We’ve had a few jobs like this where we’ve spent days using paint scrapers to remove built-up wax.

How can I prevent wax build up and protect my floor?

Floor coating manufacturers like Bona recommend using a neutral cleaning product that doesn’t contain wax. If you are using a floor cleaning product with a wax component, here’s what we suggest to keep your floors looking great:

• Dilute the cleaning solution according to the directions on the label. Over-use will quickly lead to product build up
• Every 5^th clean, use ammonia to clean your floor to remove the wax build up. 1 cup of Ammonia to 4 litres of cool water will do the trick.
• If you’ve got a noticeable wax build up then double the strength of the ammonia solution i.e. 2 cups of ammonia to 4 litres of water.

If you use ammonia, take care to rinse thoroughly and don’t over-wet the wood. Water is the enemy of wood!