Hardwood Finishes and maintenance

Hardwood Flooring Finishes: Cleaning and Maintenance
There is a huge difference between hardwood floor finishes?Some floors have a polyurethane finish, which is a top layer of plastic over the hardwood flooring, which take more effort to renew.



The other way wood-flooring is finished is called ?Hardwood Oil Finished Floors?.This wood is given a specialized oil finish that actually soaks into the wood, and even hardens slightly to form a barrier from dirt, wear and tear, and even scuff marks.



The European countries have successfully used this wood flooring for over forty years.Denmark/Copenhagen Airport have these floors, and have never needed to sand them. Eurostar Train Station in London receives 30,000/day, and also needs no sanding, instead use the WOCA Oil treatments.



Because the finish on these floors is different, so the cleaning solution must be different in order to achieve the cleanest and maximum beauty of your floor.Even though oil is on the floor, you will not feel it because the oil actually seeps into the floor then hardens to form a barrier.



  • WOCA SOAP: First, sweep, dust-mop or vacuum your floors as you normally do.When your floor becomes soiled enough to mop, this is the way to properly clean it.The product that you will use the most to clean your floors is called WOCA SOAP. This is a specialized cleaner that removes dirt, along with replenishing the oil barrier into your wood flooring.This cleaner has coconut fat oil which protects the wood from spills.



    You should have a bucket for the properly diluted WOCA SOAP (? cup of WOCA SOAP per 5 quarts of warm water). In addition, have another bucket of water for rinsing.After sweeping your floor, mop with the WOCA SOAP mixture with a lightly-squeezed mop.Let sit for a couple of minutes so the liquid soaks in, then mop with WOCA soap with a hard-wrung mop.Next, rinse your mop in the rinse-water before continuing the cleaning process.


  • WOCA Oil Refresher:to be used about twice a year.This would be used instead of your regular mopping.


  • WOCA Master Oil Natural:Occasionally, your hardwood floor will receive stains and scratches.That?s life!But your hardwood floor is easy to clean!With a cloth, simply hand-rub WOCA Master Oil Natural (or the matching WOCA Master oil color) onto the affected area.Just use a cloth to rub a small amount of this oil onto the stain or scratch area.Wait a short time, and then use another cloth to wipe the oil off.Rinse cloth in water, lay flat to dry, and then dispose into your trash.


  • WOCA Spot Remover: If you have a tougher stain, like wine or coffee, spray with WOCA Spot Remover.After a short period of time, wipe with cloth, then treat this same area with WOCA Master Oil.


  • Wood-flooring Pigmented Oil Color: If your scratch is deeper, you would lightly sand that area.Next, you would choose your wood-flooring pigmented-oil color (there are 5 available), and use a cloth to work the color back in to the flooring.


  • WOCA Maintenance Oil Natural: Natural Oil finished floors should not ever be sanded.However, some areas of your home will receive more traffic than others.So, in a normal home, additional cleaning should be done between two to five years.In order to replenish the oil in your wood floor, this will be the time to use WOCA Maintenance Oil Natural (or white).There would not be dust generated (because sanding is not done), it?s virtually smell-free, is a non-pigmented VOC-free product, and is made with a specialized sunflower oil.



    You should never use traditional floor cleaners on your hardwood oil-finished floor.The reason for this is that other cleaners will leave a residue and track prints.Also, other cleaners would take up the natural oils in the wood, and the wood then dries out.So with the occasional care given above, your floor will last for many years!