Your choice in wood floor cleaners could mean the difference between what protects your urethane finished floor – and what harms it. A non-recommended hardwood floor cleaning product can also void your manufacturers warranty.
It’s that important.
The Consequences
Warranties do not cover damage caused by non-recommended items. In addition, use of these and similar items will harm the long-term performance of your floor and may also affect its re-coat ability.
Some symptoms that an inappropriate product has already been used include footprints, smears, smudges and streaks that you cannot remove.
This is caused by a build-up and/or chemical reaction between the cleaning agent and your floor’s finish.
The look of such damage is unsightly.
But worse, when it comes time to do a routine buff and recoat every few years for general maintenance, the new coat of finish probably won’t adhere to the floor – making it impossible to properly re-coat the wood.
Unfortunately, the only solution is an expensive, time-consuming and very inconvenient full sand and refinish.
Do not use the following wood floor cleaners or other products on your urethane finished floors:
- oil soaps
- liquid or paste wax
- products that contain citrus oils, lemon oil, tung oil, or silicon
- 2 in 1 cleaners with polish that may contain acrylics or urethane polish to restore gloss
- ammonia-based products
- acrylic finishes
- wax-based products
- detergents
- bleach
- polishes
- abrasive cleaning soaps
- acidic materials such as vinegar
Oil Soap
We want to make special note of avoiding oil soap on your hardwood floors. See our article on oil soap and wax.
There are very popular retail brands of oil soap which are heavily marketed to the wood floor consumer. Similar items for polishing wood furniture, cabinetry and other wood in your home confuse the issue.
These brands make claims that their products are safe for wood floors. And if they work so well for your furniture … why not your wood floors?
Our contractors see more damage from oil soap products than any other.
Don’t risk it.
Use wood floor cleaners recommended by your manufacturer and/or contractor and review our article on cleaning products safe for your flooring and its finish.