Is there anything I can do to make hardwood floors look good (or at least better) short of sanding/refinishing

Question

I'm moving into a house I'll be renting (possibly to buy in the near future), and the hardwood floors could be nice, but they're awful! If I buy the house, I'll have something serious done to them, but right now I'd just like to make them look better. Does anyone know of some sort of cleaner or anything else that I could use with minimal invasiveness (since it's not my house) that would make them look better? (There are black stains on parts, they're not shiny, and they're just basically a mess. Apparently, previous tenants really did a number on these pretty floors.)

Thanks!

Answer 1

one cup of white vinegar to one gallon of warm water. work on a small area at a time with a damp cloth, and buff the area with a dry cloth straight away, don't over wet the area your working

Answer 2

Old English has a wood cleaner that works really well. It just makes it shinier but it looks amazing. I use on kitchen cabinets too.

Answer 3

Murphy's Oil Soap - it's a miracle worker!

Answer 4

Are you allowed to paint them?  Paint comes up when they are refinished.  I moved into a home where the wood floors were damaged - very dark stains and nothing would get the stains up - the polyurethane that should have been coating them to protect them had long since erroded.  I painted all of the rooms in different awesome patterns!  Some in solids - one room has a "beetlejuice" type black and white checked pattern - you just tape it off and then paint in each square.  You can paint the entire floor, say black, and then paint the edges of the floor (the perimeter) in a fun color.  There are so many unique things that you can do!  Just remember to seal the paint with poly.  If you can't do this - maybe a lot of rugs over the stained areas?

Good Luck!

Answer 5

you can try oarange glo for hardwood floors this should help short term but be prepared to use it on them at least every other day

Answer 6

There is no way (short of sanding) to get rid of the black spots.  You can get some stain/polyurethane stain and spread it over the floor.  It will even out the color and add a little shine, it won't get rid of or cover the black marks, but it will make the floors look better than doing nothing at all.  Minwax is good.

Answer 7

I agree wth Murphy's Oil Soap.  For BEST results (sorry) do on hands and knees with brush and "scrunge" (those things that are safe for teflon, etc.).  When floor absolutely dry (next day if possible) apply a wax that is made for wood floors or all floors.

Answer 8

You could try hardwood cleaner for specific hardwood floors, or you could but a little bit of shiny wood bleach on them. You could try clear floor glaze.

Answer 9

For goodness sake's please disregard "pink" suggestion of painting the hardwood floors. Besides guaranteeing never receiving your deposit back you could possibly ruin your hardwood flooring. The paint will never come out of the cracks and should you have them refinished in the future, flooring companies will generally charge you double due to the paint  removal.

If you just want to clean them up prior to moving in use 1 cup of vinegar to a gallon of warm water and mop them. If you do not plan on buffing and re coating them in the future (it appears they would need a sand and refinish anyway) any commercially available wax will give them a shine and make them look more presentable.

You would be amazed how some carefully placed furniture and throw rugs will cover those unsightly black marks (keep in mind they may not come out even with a total sand and refinish) and the general poor condition of your flooring. Good Luck!^

Answer 10

I recommend you use orange glow. It's a cleaner, and I use it in between tenants instead of constantly refinishing our hardwood floors. Best of luck on the new place, hope I helped you out!