Avoiding Strong Smell When Finishing Wood Floors

Every now and then a wooden floor needs to be treated so as make it look good for longer. There are a number of different finishes to choose from, including waxes, seals, polishes, oils, and varnishes. Each of them makes wooden flooring more resistant to wear and tear, at the same time making it easier to maintain. However, you need to bear in mind that each of these products usually leaves behind a certain strong smell. And while some of us remain indifferent to these smells, others find them annoying.

People who find the odour of freshly treated wooden floors irritating attempt to mask it using various air fresheners. Unfortunately, they end up disappointed, because this method is ineffective –it fails to get rid of the cause of the smell. However, there are effective ways of treating floors without chemical odour –you’ll probably find them in your kitchen cupboard. Surprisingly, those products include cider vinegar and tea.

A very effective floor cleaning product is cider vinegar. It has been used for many years by housewives preferring natural options rather than chemical products. Cider vinegar will help you get rid of grease and grime on the floor in the blink of an eye. You only need to get 125 ml of cider vinegar, pour it into a bucket of warm water and then use a mop to clean your floor. Nevertheless, if you’d like to minimise the soaking of the floor, use a spray bottle and a microfiber mop. And if you don’t like the smell of vinegar, try adding several drops of lemon, orange or lavender essential oil to the water. This will help you get rid of the odour of vinegar, leaving your floor clean and shiny.

The next solution that has been really popular as far as natural floor cleaning methods are concerned is tea. Supposedly, it’s the tannic acid contained in tea which guarantees great shine of wooden floors. When using this wood floor cleaning method make sure the tea is strong. What you need are 5 to 10 teabags per a bucket of water. First, brew the tea as you would normally do. Thereafter, let it cool and dilute it with warm water, thus making up a bucket-load. If that’s your first time and you’re anxious about the final result of this floor treatment method, test it on an inconspicuous area of your floor, before moving on to treating the entire floor surface. In this way you can ensure that the tea won’t alter the colour of the floor. If you want to avoid soaking the floor, you can pour the solution into a spray bottle and then spray the mist of the solution onto a mop.