Wooden furniture cleaning part 4
4. Clean wood floors
When damp mopping isn't enough to shift grease or serious dirt, try one these general purpose cleaners:
* Mix 100ml cider vinegar in 4 litres of warm water.
* Brew some tea using 2 tea bags per 1 litre water. Dip a soft cloth or sponge in the solution, wring it out and wipe the floor. Then to finish, buff with a soft, dry cloth.
Determining a wood floor's finish will help you work out how to care for it. If the floor was installed or last refinished before mid 1960s, the finish is probably varnish or shellac. These finishes rest on top of the wood, are often waxed and require a whole-floor sanding before a new finish can be applied. Later finishes may be polyurethane, which penetrates the wood, should not be waxed and can be touched up by new urethane applied to the worn places. You can tell one from the other by scratching the surface with a coin in an inconspicuous place. If the finish flakes, it is probably shellac or varnish. If the finish does not flake, it is probably urethane.
To check for wax:
* Put a couple of drops of water on the floor.
* Wait 10 minutes and check to see whether white spots have appeared under the water. White spots mean the floor has been waxed.
5. Varnished or shellacked floors
A solvent-based liquid wax for wood works well. It provides dirt and most of the old wax prevents wax build up and leaves a thin coating of new wax. You can also use an electric polisher, changing the pads frequently. In any clean cloth. Never use water-based self-polishing was on wood floors.
6. Urethane-finish floors
* Rub with a cloth containing a little furniture oil to give them more shine. (Home Cleaning experts can the job for you)
* Be sure to use very little, too much oil will attract dirt and turn floor into a skating ring.
7. Vinyl floors
Simple and effective clean is a touch up, use of damp mop.
If it's very dirty mix 250ml of white vinegar with 4 litres water and apply with a mop. Apply a small amount throughly by mopping with plain water. To add shine, apply a thin coat of wax to a dry, clean floor. The one-step wax-and-clean is done professionally for you by our home cleaners. Get professional help by visiting our floor cleaning page (http://homecleaning.org.uk/floor-cleaning.html).
A self-polishing wax is easy to apply, but it will build up over time. A solvent-based paste wax is more work and must be buffed but gives superior results.
8. No-wax vinyl floors
This floors has a polyurethane finish that is intended to keep a shine without waxing. It will stay shine for a long time if it is kept clean, but eventually the finish will dull (our cleaners are instructed to use high quality cleaning solutions for polishing or sealer to restore floor shine).
A cheap and easy alternative is use of shampoo to remove hairspray build-up:
* A squirt of shampoo in 4 litres of water.
* Mop and rinse.
To be continued...
Customer Notice: Our home cleaning experts never mix cleaning substances due to following high safety standards.