Re-Oiling Wooden Floors

Cleaning and re-oiling for engineered, solid and parquet wooden floors

The proper maintenance of oiled wooden floors is very important for their long lasting and durability. While varnished floors can stay for years before they need re-varnishing, this is not the case with floors that have been finished with oils. Oiled floors require frequent reoiling to maintain the sealant that protects the natural wood from damages.

The most important thing to remember when re-oiling wooden floors is that you are maintain the existing sealant and providing an extra protective layer of the same sealant. Therefore, it is essential that you know the type of product that has been originally used for sealing your floors as some products may not be compatible.

While re-oiling is less complicated than sanding and varnishing, it requires the same level of experience and care to ensure good results. Therefore, we do not recommend trying to re-oil your floors yourself, or if you are really keen, then may be try on a smaller area and see how it goes before applying it over all your floors.

Also, bear in mind that some floors are finished with coloured oils rather than clear oil and those floors will need a more frequent maintenance to maintain the existing colour. This is usually required every 16 to 24 months. Commercial floors are exposed to higher levels of foot traffic and therefore re-oiling is required more often. We would recommend re-oiling maintenance every 4-6 months.

What You Need To Know Before Your Book Re-Oiling

Wood floor re-oiling is a maintenance service and is only applicable for floors where the sealant has not worn out. It is a service to maintain the wood floor sealant and to create an extra protection. However, floors that have been badly damaged, scratched or that have areas where the sealant is completely worn out will not be applicable for re-oiling. In such case a complete sanding and resealing of wooden floors would be required. Therefore, regular re-oiling is very important to avoid sanding for as long as possible.

Because oiled floors require more regular maintenance, they are less appropriate for commercial premises or for homes with pets such as cars or dogs. In such cases, varnished floors would be more suitable as the varnish creates a ticker protective layer, which is more durable and requires less regular maintenance.

Finally, the basic principle that applies when deciding whether re-oiling is possible is whether the wood has been damaged or not. If the damage is only on the sealant, then re-oiling might help. However, if the damage has reached the natural wood, then re-oiling is less likely to be applicable.