Get matched with top floor polishers in Owen, WI

Before starting on a full refinishing project, determine if your floors need to be completely sanded down to the bare wood or if the damage is shallow and mostly cosmetic. Deep scratches and gouges will require you to rough sand using a drum sander or belt sander, but small surface scratches or floors that have only lost their luster don’t need a complete overhaul. Instead, you can skip the rough sanding step and sand-screen the old finish with a buffer, removing only the top layer of polyurethane.

Both buffing and polishing increase the longevity of your floors by removing scratches and buildup, but they are different processes. Polishing removes the top layer of your floor, removing surface-level scuffs and scratches. Buffing your floor involves filling the scratches and scuffs with a buffing solution. No matter which method you choose, you can rest assured that both techniques will leave your floor looking shiny and new.  

Professionals use various tools and cleaning solutions based on the type of floor they’re cleaning. They often use industrial steam cleaners to pull debris out of the carpet. For localized stains, they may use a commercial cleaner or a mixture of water, vinegar, and dish soap. For tile, they’ll typically use dish soap and hot water, plus a mixture of baking soda and hot water for the grout. For cleaning wood floors, they might use a low-heat steamer, a mop with an oil wood floor cleaner, or a mixture of hot water, vinegar, and lemon juice.

Most DIY floor cleaners don’t require rinsing, but you’ll want to make sure you don’t add too much dish soap or oil to the cleaner to avoid having to rinse it after cleaning. For non-wood floors, mix 8 parts warm water, 1 part vinegar, and 1 part baking soda with a few drops of dish soap. For wood floors, use olive oil in that same mixture instead of the vinegar. You can let these solutions air-dry after cleaning your floors with them, although you should manually dry your floors if they aren’t waterproof.