What finish for newly sanded wooden floors?

[easterlywinds]

In a moment of stupidity I decided the wooden floor in my hallway (1930s oak flooring) looked a bit mucky so I spent the weekend sanding it. Now I'm not sure what to do with it. I was going to wash it this afternoon and then pop to B+Q tomorrow to buy some kind of wax. However, a quick search with Mr Google suggests that I now need to seal the floor and then apply wax, oil or varnish. Is it okay to wash it to get rid of the grime before I do anything else as long as I leave it to dry properly first?

After sanding I washed mine a couple of times with warm water and teeny bit of washing up liquid, rinsed well and made sure it was dry. Then did three coats of Ronseal Diamond Hard floor wax in natural. I think you can buy it at B&Q but, from memory, may be cheaper through Amazon. Really pleased with the result as hard wearing yet not shiny

We have just sanded the stairs (pine) and are about to sand the hall floor (ropey 1980s parquet). We are using an Osmo Polyx Oil to finish it (with lots of other things in between to try and get the finishes as close together as possible.

Thanks. I'll have look at those products. I'm feeling a bit braver and washed the floor and nothing disastrous has happened to it, although the cloth was extremely dirty. Did either of you clean your floors with white spirit?