Elbow grease

I've been spending part of the weekend scrubbing hideous old wax and dirt off our hardwood floors.

A while back, our housecleaner mopped our floors with Mop n' Glo. It's a wax, and it shouldn't have been used on our hardwood floors, which already have a finish. The wax hardened to a malleable stickiness, and trapped dirt. Subsequent moppings trapped more dirt. The floors looked hideous, and even if you mopped again with soapy water, it didn't make a difference. So I searched the internet and read things from other people who'd had the same problem.

The only way to get Mop n' Glo off wood floors is to dissolve it with a gentle solvent, and scrub it off. Board by board. After some experiments with vinegar, soapy ammonia, and Windex, I settled on Windex as the best choice.

Tools - Spray bottle of Windex. Sponge with a scrubbing surface. Bucket of clean warm watter. Roll of paper towels.

Spray a small area about 1' square with Windex. Wait about 3-5 minutes. Take the sponge and start scrubbing. If the wax has dissolved enough, it will peel away almost like dead skin. Rinse the sponge in the water, and wipe down the wood with the soft side of the sponge. Then wipe away the wax residue with a paper towel. Sometimes the wax is stubborn, so you have to spray again.


Now, do that again, for every square foot of your floor.

Between Saturday and Sunday, I cleaned about 80 square feet - which is a little under half of my kitchen floor. And there's the entire living room to go.

My wrists and shoulders ache and my fingertips are all pruney. To be fair, though, it took a while to experiment with the right technique. Once I figured it out, it went a lot faster. I think I'm going to rent a bunch of movies and spend an entire day on the living room floor.

It sure makes a difference, though, doesn't it?