Wood floors can look dull and lifeless with wear and time. Shiny floors always look elegant and add warmth to a home. Instead of sanding down and refinishing your wood floors, using a wood floor polish will extend their life. Aside from restoring shine, you can also prevent wear marks, nicks and scratches when you use wood floor polish.
There are many companies manufacturing wood floor polishes. Some are designed strictly for wood floors and others are made for floors like tiles or vinyl. You can get them just about anywhere nowadays – online, at the supermarket and at your local home improvement center.
Wood floor polishes are very different from one to the next. Some make wood floors stunning and others leave awful residue that is a pain to clean up. Wood floor polishes can be made of many different ingredients from acrylic to polymers. Usually wax or oil based wood polishes have a tendency to leave darker blotches on wood floors.
Don’t get wood floor cleaner mixed up with wood floor polish. It is a very common mistake. A cleaner sanitizes and a polish makes the floor shiny. Some floor cleaners have packaging that looks like polish. A wood floor polish is to be used only once the floor is clean. It does not clean and make it shiny, too. If anything, if you have a dirty floor – it will make it look worse. And this is a common mistake! And this mistake becomes a big mess!
We are going to take a look at a few different wood floor polishes and hopefully you will have an idea of what to look for when you are ready for shiny, beautiful wood floors. It is always a good idea to protect your floors as part of a general maintenance routine.
Weiman Squeeze and Shine Floor Polish
rating 1/5
This wood floor polish comes in a 27 oz squeeze bottle. This durable product makes your floor streak free and resistant to scratch marks and scuff marks. It has low VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and has no formaldehyde, ammonia or heavy metals. Weiman Squeeze and Shine is meant for many different floor coverings – it is good for sealed hardwood and all kinds of tile. A bottle sells for only $8 on Amazon so it’s pretty inexpensive.
Weiman High Traffic Hardwood Polish & Restorer
rating – 1/5
Weiman also makes a product exclusively for hardwood floors. It’s called
Weiman High Traffic Hardwood Polish & Restorer.
A bottle of this stuff is around $17 and covers 500 feet of hardwood floor. This floor polish is safe to use around children and pets. The High Traffic Hardwood Polish & Restorer is designed to coat the floor to prevent scratches. This product actually leaves a protective layer on your floor to extend its life. It makes your wood floors look shiny. Weiman products are also available in Canada at Canadian Tire.
The key to Weiman products is you need to have clean wood floors first. Also, you need to use a good amount of product. A microfiber mop is the best way to apply it. The drying time is a bit long. If you are impatient and walk on your floors, it won’t look as good. Better to apply it before you leave for the day or use it when the weather is warmer so it will dry faster.
Unfortunately, regardless of what the company says, their floor polishes leave behind white marks. These floor polishes actually make your floors look worse than before.
Hope’s Floor Revive
rating – 3.5/5
This is a product designed for many different floor coverings – not just sealed hardwood floors. It’s suitable for vinyl, marble, slate, linoleum, concrete and tile. This product revives old, lifeless floors and makes them beautiful again. It will make your floors that glossy shine that you miss. This floor polish will protect against stains, future nicks and scratches. Many homeowners use Hope’s Floor Revive instead of refinishing their floors. Even if you think it will cover up scratches well, unfortunately it won’t do a great job in this department.
Floor Revive dries quickly. It is a multi-functional polymer. There are no waxes, harsh chemicals or solvents in this floor polish. It’s also super easy to apply. Most homeowners really like this product. It does not last more than a few months, though. It has to be reapplied.
It is available at most home improvement centers. Hope’s Floor Revive sells for around $9 for a 16 ounce bottle.
Pledge FloorCare Finish
rating – 2/ 5
Pledge FloorCare Finish is an acrylic-based product suitable for many different types of floors including sealed hardwood. It’s also ok to use on tile, vinyl, stone, slate and linoleum. This floor care product will not yellow your wood floors. Like many other floor polishes, this Pledge product makes old, dull floors restore their shine. It also prevents dirt from getting into cracks. It makes floors generally easier to clean in the future.
When using Pledge FloorCare Finish, your floor has to be very clean. Otherwise it will look awful. It will cause streaks and ugly marks. This Pledge product will make your floors look good for a day or two only.
This floor product will leave a sticky residue on your wood floors. It will make your floor more work to remove the Pledge.
Pledge products are widely available – you can easily find it at your local home improvement center. A bottle sells for around $6.
Bona Wood Floor Polish Gloss
rating – 5/5
Bona Wood Floor Polish Gloss is a waterborne maintenance coating for hardwood floors. Like other floor polishes, it revitalize the shine and protect against wear marks.
This product is designed for wood floors that have not been waxed or oiled. Bona recommends doing an adhesion test before applying it to your whole floor. It is good to try it in an area where it will go unnoticed – under a radiator or in a closet. It comes in both matt and glossy depending on what kind of look you want.
You can find Bona Wood Floor Polish at most home improvement centers. It goes for around $20 for 32 ounces.
Bona has been around since 1919 making wood floor products. This should be an indicator that their products are good! Only good things can be said about Bona products.
Final Thoughts
Using a wood floor polish will make your floor look shiny and will also extend its life. It is worth using it. The best product after reviewing several of them is by far Bona. It is designed for wood and should leave your floors looking great.