Wood floors take special care and specific maintenance to ensure that they remain in the best possible condition.
Oiling works to help protect your floors while bringing out the details in the design of your floor. However, if you’ve never oiled your wood floors before you might be wondering: How often should I oil my wood floors? WFC has the answers you are seeking!
In this article, I will explore some information about wood floors, from how often you should oil your wood floors to a step-by-step guide on how to oil your wood floors.
So, let’s get started.
So, What’s the Magic Number?
Generally speaking, you won’t need to oil wooden flooring more than every 2 years.
However, you personally may want to do this sooner depending on how much your flooring is used and how much foot traffic it gets. This also applies to having pets that claw at your flooring.
Oiling your flooring adds an additional layer of protection from daily foot traffic or day-to-day spillages and mishaps that may damage your floor.
Although you don’t need to regularly oil your wood floors, there are multiple benefits of oiling your wood floors that I will go into more detail about below.
Why is it important?
Maintaining your floor through oiling is important for a variety of reasons and offers a wealth of benefits when done properly.
Keeps your woodfloor looking newer for longer
Oiling your wood floor ensures its longevity and keeps your floor looking newer for longer. Oiling can restore dull, faded wood and make it look brighter! Anything that makes your floor look brand new has got to be a good thing, right?
Helps to protect your woodflooring from other liquid
Spills are inevitable, especially if you have children and pets with water bowls. Without oil protecting the surface, your wood will absorb any water and moisture that is spilled onto the surface.
If this water or other liquid gets into the wood floor, the floor can warp and swell as a result of this, causing long-term damage.
This is why it is fundamental that when you are cleaning your wood floors, you don’t allow them to dry on their own. If left to their own devices to dry, your wood flooring is at a much higher risk of warping than if you were to dry them properly.
By applying a protective oil coating, your floor is unable to soak up this moisture as much, therefore protecting your flooring and helping to prevent future damage.
This provides you with peace of mind and generally helps you maintain and keep your wood floor looking as good as it can for longer.
Helps to protect against pet damage
Whether you have a dog or a cat, their claws are known to wreak havoc if they’re not trained out of it from a young age. Pets are renowned for causing a variety of damage in and around your home, including the general wear and tear of your flooring.
It happens, but oiling your wood floor can help protect your floor against pet damage.
The longevity and durability factors of oiling wood floors make it perfect for pet owners.
For instance, any scratches caused by claws or teeth can simply be sanded down and oiled over to get rid of any pet scratches from your beloved pooch or cat and restore your floor.
A How to Guide:
Once you know what you’re doing, oiling your wood floors is simple!
Step 1: If your floor has previously been oiled, you can apply the oil directly on top of your wood flooring without prepping the floor.
However, for floors with different finishes, such as varnish, you’ll need to sand the surface until you get to the bare wood to ensure that you’re not coating the floor with a different substance.
Step 2: Make sure that you wipe away any kind of dirt or debris from the surface of your flooring, as this stops any debris from setting under the oil.
This is especially important when you’ve been sanding, as it will make the surface grainy and textured if you don’t clean up afterward.
Step 3: Before you begin to oil your floors, make sure that the room is well ventilated.
Breathing in the fumes from the oil isn’t good for your health and can cause a variety of problems, so you should avoid breathing them in at all costs.
Cracking a window or keeping the door open as you oil your floors is a precautionary measure to make sure that any fumes from the oil are able to escape and prevent them from lingering in the room.
Step 4 : Next, it’s time to get the oil. Open the tin of oil, making sure that you stir the container of oil thoroughly to make sure all of the components are well mixed as separation can occur.
Step 5: Take a stiff paintbrush or a roller and apply a layer of oil evenly, making sure that you are going with the wood grain. Be sure to apply a thin layer of oil, to make sure that you keep your layers even.
Step 6: Make sure that you allow the oil to dry before applying more layers. Use the same technique as the step above and go with the grain, ensuring that you are applying thin layers at a time for the most even look.
Step 7: Depending on the type of oil, use anywhere between 1 to 3 layers, making sure each layer is dry before applying a new one.
In summary
Typically speaking, you should oil your floor once every 2 years. However, how often you choose to oil your floor will depend on how much traffic your wood floor gets.
Make sure that you follow the correct steps to oil your wood floors safely, making sure to keep the room well ventilated with the doors and windows open.