Need some tips on how to clean wood floors before polyurethane? Let’s take a look at this article, and your concern will be solved right away!
Polyurethane wood floors are becoming indispensable material in construction and interior design because of its outstanding features and great aesthetic value.
That is the reason why many people want to own a house with shiny and elegant wood floors.
However, the question here is how to clean wood floors before polyurethane?
Let’s dig into this article to get effective tips to make your old wood floors more beautiful with polyurethane if you have the same concern.
Scroll down right away!
How to Clean Wood Floor before Polyurethane?
Before you start cleaning your wood floors, you should find out what types of wood floors you have. The reason is that every kind of wood floor has a unique way to clean.
For example, if your wood floor is a new wooden one, you must not use waxes or oils on this floor because it will be dangerously slippery to step on.
On the contrary, if it is an old wood floor, you had better use oils or waxes. Oil and waxes soak into the grain, harden the wooden structure, and form a top seal.
In case you are unsure about what kind of wood floor is, don’t be worried about it.
Here is the best way to clean wood floors before polyurethane you can apply to all kinds of wood floors!
#1. Remove all dirt from the floor first
The very first thing that you should do is getting all dirt and debris out of your wood floors as fast and clean as possible, even the smallest specks of dirt.
This step is important because if there is still dirt remaining on the floors, it will be difficult to make the polyurethane finish to stick firmly onto the surface.
Therefore, if you plan to refinish your floor with another new coat, you should clean your wood floors regularly as much as you can.
It would help if you used a vacuum to deal with the smallest dust particles to ensure that all your corner is taped off.
#2. Scrub the wood floor
The purpose of scrubbing the wood floor is to make it easier for the polyurethane to cover the old floors.
Hence, gaps and cracks on the floor should be filled before sanding because the flat surface is convenient to work with.
The commonly used material to rub is 180-grit sandpaper. It would be best if you scoured wood floors with your hands to achieve a higher result because machines like buffers cannot reach nooks.
Moreover, you had better rub each wooden board with the grain from 4 to 6 inches from the baseboard. Keep scrubbing floors until they all dull and appear powers on the surface.
It would help if you kept in mind that do not use a sanding block for refinishing hardwood because it can omit uneven spots on the floor.
#3. Vacuum and sweep the wood floor
After sanding the old wooden floors, you should leave the floors for 10 to 15 minutes for the powder to settle.
Then, you had better use a vacuum to vacuum-clean wood dust. It is noticeable that the vacuum should be combined with a clean filter to remove all dust and dirt on the floors.
Besides, you should sweep in line with the flooring strips using a felt-bottomed attachment to remove any powder that remains between the wooden boards.
Eventually, dry-tack the floors with a microfiber fabric strained with the grain.
#4. Cut in along the nooks of the floors
The polyurethane coating gets purified through a funnel filter inside a clean plastic watering container.
While doing this action, you should cover your shoes with special protective equipment and cover your nose and mouth with a respirator.
Plus, you ought to wear safety goggles and rubber gloves. This step needs more protection anticipations because of the highly toxic chemical content.
#5. Coat polyurethane finish for the wood floors
After completing the above steps, you can move to refinish your old floors with polyurethane. At this point, you almost solve your question of how to clean the wood floors before polyurethane.
However, re-coating polyurethane is a little bit more difficult and complicated than it was first thought. The reason is that the polyurethane finish is better, safer, and dries much faster.
Nevertheless, faster drying means shorter opening times, so you have to recoat everything in one go. So keep in mind that feature!
In short
Above are the useful and valuable tips for any homeowner wondering how to clean wood floors before polyurethane.
We hope you will find this post helpful and apply these tips to recoat your floor finish using polyurethane to make it look better! Wish you success with the above tips!
