How to fix cloudy hardwood floors

It is always a good idea to invest in a hardwood floor because it is a product with timeless quality, great durability, and fine looks. The look, however, is not easy to preserve. The appearance of hazy, milky, cloud–like surface can ruin the impression you want to make and here, we are going to discuss how to deal with it.

What is causing the haziness?

• Bad finish application. When applying a finish on top of a wooden floor you need to leave it enough time to dry before putting the next coat on. The amount of time needed for drying depends on the type of finish. If you are unsure about some products and the manufacturer’s instruction aren’t enough, just consult with a professional.

• Bad choice of cleaning products. The flooring industry is constantly evolving. New and modern products are appearing all the time and not all of the cleaners can do a proper job on modern floors. The things you better avoid are furniture polish, oil soaps and paste wax. If you already used any of those it is the most likely reason why your floor is in such condition.

• The use of wax. Some floor finishes don’t react well to waxing. A typical example is polyurethane products. Some even wax a floor that doesn’t need it and then try to put another coating of the old finish on top of the wax. Needless to say, the result is underwhelming.

There is such a thing as too much cleaning. Even a well-protected hardwood floor can be damaged if too much of a cleaning product is applied regularly over a sufficient enough period of time. Many manufacturers of prefinished wood recommend certain products to be used on their floors. Sometimes, if you don’t follow those regulations you can even void your warranty.

Additionally, wood doesn’t react too well to water so using excessive amounts of it can lead to something much worse than unpleasant visual effect.  Wet mops are something you should avoid. Use microfiber cleaning pad and you will help your floor stay beautiful for longer!

How to fix cloudy floor?

The milky effect is achieved when something is wrong with some of the finish layers. Dissolving the coating should get rid of the problem. Even after the coating is removed it’s important to use the right kind of cleaning products or all the effort has been in vain.

So, how exactly to get rid of the coating? Maybe you’ve heard before to never use ammonia cleaning products on a hardwood floor. It’s a good advice. Follow it, but not in this case. You must use ammonia solution to get rid of the haziness. Another perfectly viable, but far more time-consuming alternative is to simply refinish your wooden floors.

For the ammonia solution method, you would need a vacuum cleaner with a brush head, ammonia, bucket, terry cloth and microfiber cleaning cloth.

• Sweep or vacuum your floor to remove any dirt.

• Mix 1 cup of ammonia per gallon of warm water in a bucket

• Use a terry towelling to mop the floor with the ammonia solution

• Use a microfiber cloth to wipe the solution and buff the floor dry and pay special attention to the cloudy areas.

• Give your floor at least an hour to adjust and repeat the mopping and buffing until the haziness is gone and the result of your work is satisfying.