If you have unfinished wood floors you know how difficult it can be to keep them clean and tidy. Because when your wood isn’t finished, it actually becomes a magnet for a range of different stains, marks and other debris, right? But you can’t clean it the same way you would clean a finished wood floor because it’s far too fragile for that. So what do you do? Well, if you want to learn how to clean unfinished wood floor you need to take a look at this process.
What You Need to Get Started
The first thing in learning how to clean unfinished wood floors is figuring out the tools that you need in order to keep that wood floor in tip-top shape. Because it’s unfinished you need some slightly different things than with a finished wood floor and some similar ones.
- Broom and Dustpan – Just like any other hard surface floor you may have in your home you’ll occasionally need to sweep up dirt and debris. You need a broom and dustpan to help with this and make sure you’re going to have the surface of the floors clean.
- Wood Floor Cleaner – A little wood floor cleaner can help you get up some of that last bit of dirt that gets stuck in the floor and make them look shiny at the same time. Just make sure it’s approved for unfinished floors.
- Trisodium Phosphate – This is a liquid chemical that’s really good at getting rid of stains in your wood. It’s very concentrated however, so you’ll want a white rag and some clear water to go along with it so you can clean up after it’s done its job. This also needs a scrub brush.
- Mineral Spirits – Another option for cleaning your floors is mineral spirits, which actually doesn’t contain any chemicals at all and will help to get out stains easily. This is actually safer for your floors, your family and your pets. You’ll also need a rag for this but you won’t need water to wash it back off.
- Sander – A good sander can take out absolutely anything because you’re actually getting rid of the damaged wood entirely. You’ll want to be careful with this option, however, because you could end up with noticeable marks.
Read more: How To Clean Your Hardwood Floors With Ease
And We’re Off to the Races: How To Clean Unfinished Wooden Floors
Step 1
First, you want to try and get any dirt or debris off the surface. You can start by simply using a broom and dustpan to sweep up whatever is sitting on top of the floors so you can see what kind of stains you’re actually dealing with before you jump in too quickly with chemicals or anything else that could potentially cause more damage.
Step 2
Get some wood cleaner that’s safe for use on unfinished floors and dilute it with water to the package specifications. Once you’ve done that you can scrub your floors carefully with the mixture and make sure that all the liquid comes up at the end as too much moisture can damage unfinished floors.
Step 3
If the stain is still there it’s time to use a little bit different method, mineral spirits are usually the best option for you because they don’t have chemicals but they do a great job when it comes to getting out stains. Just pour a little on a rag and then use it to wipe the area that has a stain. In most cases, this is going to be all you need to get the stain out and you won’t have to use water or anything else to get up the mineral spirits either.
Step 4
If you still can’t get the stain up you may want to consider using trisodium phosphate. This is a pretty good solution for getting stains out of just about anything, and especially wood. You want to make sure you’re careful about this one however, because it’s a strong chemical. You want to put just a little bit directly onto the stain in your floor.
Step 5
Scrub the trisodium phosphate deep into the grain using a scrub brush. You need to get it as deep into the wood as you can so that you can get everything out and not have anything left when you’re done.
Step 6
Use clean water to rinse anything left of the solution off the floor. You don’t want it to stay there and continue to soak in. You want it entirely cleaned off with water so keep flushing it out until the water does its job.
Step 7
Wipe up every bit of moisture with your rag. You don’t want to leave anything behind because the liquid can damage your wood floors, especially if they don’t have a finish or any type of sealant on them because it starts working its way deeper and deeper into the floor.
Step 8
If you still have a mark that won’t come out you can consider sanding it down. A small piece of sandpaper may be enough for a smaller mark or you may need a large electric sander. Use it carefully because you don’t want to sand off too much where you’ll be able to notice that it’s different. You just want to get the layer that holds the stain in it, which should be close to the top. Make sure you don’t go too far down and that you don’t leave any rough edges while you’re sanding.
Step 9
Sweep again to get rid of the dust left behind by your sander. You’re now ready to enjoy your wood floors again and there’s no more stain. How’s that for how to clean unfinished wood floors?
Conclusion
All-in-all, it’s not that difficult to figure out how to clean unfinished wood floors. You just need to have a few options lying around the house, and you probably already do. So take a few minutes to check them out yourself and make sure that the next time you get a stain or mark on your floor, you’re ready to go. It’s actually quite easy to figure out how to clean unfinished wood floors.