Maintaining Oiled Hardwood Floors

Oiled hardwood floors are prepared and maintained differently compared to hardwood floors that are prefinished with coatings such as polyurethane or aluminum oxide. These coatings are capable of withstanding regular wear and tear, and do not require regular re-oiling to maintain the look and feel. Your choice to have oiled floors or prefinished floors mostly comes down to the appearance and maintenance preferences that you have.

If your home has oiled hardwood floors, you are probably wondering what products you can use to maintain and care for the hardwood to keep it looking new. Most generic cleaners are too harsh for oiled hardwood floors, and will quickly strip the protective layer of oil that is on top of the wood. Other big chain brands that are touted as "Oil Soaps" may in fact leave your floors looking much worse than before you attempted to re-oil them. At Magna Hardwood Floors, we recommend gentle cleaning products, such as the WOCA natural soap that contains a reasonable and balanced oil to soap ratio, which cleans your hardwood floors while also maintaining the oil layer that protects the floors. The WOCA Natural Soap can be used to spot clean, or can be purchased in larger sizes to dilute and use for regular cleaning requirements. 

For floors that require a refresh of the protective oil layer, we recommend the WOCA oil refreshing soap, which has a mixture of oil and soap to replenish any oil that may have been lost during cleaning and every day wear-and-tear.

For all other hardwood floors that are not oiled, you may also consider using a spray mop that provides a quick and easy solution for cleaning floors in a pinch and with ease. Just dilute the appropriate cleaner with some water, and easily spray and mop your hardwood floors so they look like new!