How can I 'restore' my wooden floor?

[AnonyMust]

Years of neglect (a quick mop with a basic wood cleaner liquid) haven't done it justice. It's colour has faded and there are so many scratches from chairs pulled in and out. It's 7 years old. Should I buy a special beeswax polish or floor liquid? I've no clue.

[TheOriginalSteamingNit]

I think you'll need to sand it down first if you want to get rid of the scratches and get it shiny again...

[AnonyMust]

Hmm. Oh dear. I was hoping for a (lazy) beeswax alternative.

[Elysianfields]

I had a floor like that, and a whole staircase actually and I used a mixture of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. If you google it you can find other proportions depending if you re cleaning or finishing. Brush it on, leave it an hour then rub it off. And repeat. When it is done maintenance is a quick wipe over with the mix whenever it stops looking good.

You get the linseed and turps from DIY stores.

Not quick and easy but satisfying and smells lovely

[AnonyMust]

Did you boil the linseed oil or can I buy it boiled (safer for me).

[AnonyMust]

Just amazoned it. Buying boiled. Phew! Thank you.

[AnonyMust]

What can I do before applying those, to resolve the scratches?

[TheOriginalSteamingNit]

I'm afraid I'm still going with the sandpaper for that .... sorry!

[Elysianfields]

Sorry yes you buy it boiled!

I would have a go with the mix and see how it looks, you can always sand it after. The thing with sanding is if you aren't careful you have to do the lot because you can see where you stop.

[OnlyWantsOne]

You can rent a sander from a big chain like jewsons /toucan tool hire etc

Sand

Seal

[Elysianfields]

But if you sand then you get a uniform new colour. If you resore then you respect the years of use..... It really depends on the room and the look you want. Oh and whether you can be arsed to sand.....last time I did it buggered my dyson.

I like the look of cleaned up wood, so tend to do the linseed oil thing wherever I can.

[AnonyMust]

I'll go with the linseed and turps. Tips on that (proportion and application) welcome!

[callamia]

Liquid Gold - it made our wooden floors all nice and shiny again.
It's about 6 quid from Lakeland. Pour it on the floor and get a cotton mop sweeper thing to buff it in.

[BikeRunSki]

I use Liquid Gold and have decided I like my scratches.

[BikeRunSki]

X post!

[Elysianfields]

I would use 50 - 50. If the wood is mucky I might use more turpentine in the mix and scrub it on, then go over with the 50-50 mix.

As I said earlier I did a whole staircase with it, and the difference was staggering. It had about 3 coats in the end, and 12 months later when I moved out it still looked good, the wood looked really new rather than dried out. Even my dp was converted, he wanted to varnish it.

[AnonyMust]

Thank you. Now I need to act on all that wonderful advice.