Striping Wax Off Wood Floors

Removing the wax is a bit dicey.

Striping wax off wood floors.

Removing old wax from wood floors is time consuming but it is not an impossible task. Even freshly washed and waxed floors. Wax can penetrate the wood making future paint or stain finishes or touch ups difficult or impossible. Then use a squeegee to remove the wax and stripper soak up the excess liquid with rags and mop the floor with clean water.

If you do not remove all traces of the paste wax no finish and i mean no finish will stick to the floor. And worse yet more coats of finish may never dry. You need a product approved for hardwood floors or you risk damaging the floor finish when you strip the wax. Waxed floors such as linoleum or vinyl can flake or become yellow due to age or too many layers of wax.

You can buy commercial wax removers to make this job less onerous but read the label carefully before purchasing one. There is more than one way to remove wax from an existing finish but none guarantee success. Sanding down the finish can drive the wax even deeper because the friction of sanding heats up the wax. We have seen floor finishes takes weeks to dry when they got wax contaminated and that was on floors that we actually resanded.

The best way to strip wax buildup from floors depends on what kind of floors they are. For tile floors remove the wax by mopping with ammonia laundry detergent and warm water. Then let the solution sit on the floors for 10 minutes before scrubbing it in with a sponge. Nothing adheres well to wax and even after cleaning the wood grain can become contaminated.

To strip and wax a floor start by purchasing a floor finish stripper specifically designed for your flooring. A wax coating can help extend the life of your hardwood floors by providing a natural barrier that protects against moisture. This popular top coat for hardwood floors is a great choice but it can become dull over time as it collects dirt. Many are intended for vinyl linoleum and tile but not hardwood.

How to remove old wax from floors without chemicals.