Cleaning

All you need to do is sweep the floor, vacuum it and occasionally wipe with a damp, wrung out cloth. You can add a little mild cleaning fluid (with a maximum of pH8) to the water. Wipe up any spills immediately to ensure that no marks are left on the floor.

Lacquered flooring

If you have a stain on the floor try and clean it with a little washing up fluid and warm water. If the stain does not come off then try a little methylated spirit, petroleum spirit or thinners (always try a small area in an out of the way place just to make sure it does not have an effect on the lacquer). Felt pads under table and chair legs will prevent them from scratching the floor. A doormat both outside and inside the front door will help keep the dirt and grit away from your floor.

If the floor becomes scratched and dull then it is time to sand lightly and apply another coat of lacquer. The floor does not need to be sanded back to the bare wood and all scratches removed, just the surface needs sanding (keying) so that the new coat has something to grip to. The new coat of lacquer will fill any small scratches.

Removing Stains

Rubber, shoe polish, soot, fat, chocolate can be removed with white spirit or similar. Crayon, ink and lipstick can be removed with dentured ethanol and water mixed on a 50/50 basis. Candle wax and chewing gum can be removed by placing a bag of ice cubes on the stain. The wax/gum will then freeze and can be carefully scraped off.

Oiled floors

We feel that an oiled floor is one of the nicest types of floor, especially with oak. It does however need regular maintenance by reoiling. In a normal environment you should aim to reoil your floor at least 4 times a year in the first couple of years. Put oil on a rag and wipe the rag on the floor then wipe it again this time with a dry rag removing an excess. This will take approx. 1-2 hours to dry. Every time you oil the floor you will increase its durability and capacity to repel dirt and moisture. This means that over time you will need to do less and less oiling. How regularly you oil a floor depends on many factors and varies from house to house. For example if you wash (only ever with a damp cloth) then more reoiling will be necessary. Floors subjected to a lot of wear, i.e. hall floors need more frequent oiling. If you brush on more than one coat of oil the second coat will take a long time to dry and will give an appearance of a polished waxed floor.

Removing Stains

Remove stains as quickly as possible. This can be done with a neutral pH8 cleaner. If the stain remains try scrubbing it with a green nylon scourer. You can also use the oil with a scourer as it contains white spirit. The area may then need a couple of coats of oil to bring it back up to the same appearance as the rest of the floor.