cheap fix for tatty floorboards??

[swottybetty]

hiya - we're in rented accomadtion and have floorboards in dining room. they're not in great nick and when i have the cash to hire a sander (and the time and energy to use it...) i am going to get round to a proper sand and varnish.

i do want them to look a bit nicer in the short term and wondered what would work. does waxing sound like madness? or just a proper scrub with a decent cleaner and if so which one? any other thoughts...?

tia

[TheYearOfTheCat]

When you say they are not in great nick, what do you mean by this? Are they just dirty, or are they loose, large gaps etc?

If just dirty, I would scrub them first - Milton comes to mind, because I scrubbed a filthy table with this and it came up great and didn't spoil the grain.

Ikea do some great, reasonably cheap rugs, which could lift the room a bit.

Make sure you have written consent from your landlord if you do intend to sand them - I own rental property, and would be extremely pissed off if someone did this without my knowledge.

[Onlyaphase]

You could do a quick fix of a bit of wood filler and then paint them if this interests you? I've painted floorboards before and it looked great - very New England beach house style

Second what TYOTC said though - please do check with your landlord first.

[swottybetty]

hiya - the floorboards are original boards that have been varnished by a previous tenant and ignored for quite a while. no gaps, but scratched varnish patchy and some larger splintery bits coming off wood. we live onsite at a school and maintance know what we'redoing (and would never get round to doing it .)

painting would be a bit too much i think - i like the look (have always fancied white floorboards) but am basically trying to avoid having to get a proper sander and they realy could do with a rub down.

i will try milton before i think of waxing - where can i get it from? a b and q type place?

[TheYearOfTheCat]

Milton fluid - ie the stuff for sterilising babies bottles - any supermarket or chemist will stock it.