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Ultimate Hardwood Floor Restoration Guide
Here is the ultimate wood floor restorer guide from Rejuvenate® Products.
Table of Contents
- General Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer Tips
- How Do I Know if I Have Hardwood Flooring?
- What Kind of Floors Can I Renew With Your Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
- What’s the Difference Between Laminate and Engineered Wood?
- Do I Have to Sand My Floors Before Using Professional Wood Restorer?
- Why Should I Use Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
- What is the Difference Between Your Satin and High Gloss Professional Wood Restorer?
- How Much Wood Floor Restorer Do I Need to Renew My Floor?
- What Product Do I Use to Prep and Clean My Floor Before Using Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
- How Do I Repair Minor Scratches and Dings Before Restoring My Wood Floor?
- What Can I Use to Remove Stubborn Water Rings and Dark Ink Stains from My Floors?
- What Type of Mop Do I Need to Apply Professional Wood Floor Restorer to My Floor?
- Which Rejuvenate Wood Floor Restorer Product Should I Use on My Floors?
- What is the Difference Between Your Professional Wood Floor Restorer and All Floors Restorer?
- Can I Use a Steam Mop After I Use Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
- How Do I Apply Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
- How Do I Clean and Maintained My Renewed and Restored Floors?
Restoring Floors with Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer
We get asked many questions on what is the best method to restore and renew your wood floor. For hardwood floors, we recommend our Wood Floor Professional Restorer that is available in both a High Gloss or Satin finish.
Rejuvenate® Professional Wood Floor Restorer is meant to be used on hardwood floors ONLY. Do not use this product on laminates or any other flooring surface besides hardwood or engineered wood. For any flooring other than hardwood, please refer to our Rejuvenate All Floors Restorer Guide.
Q: How Do I Know if I Have Hardwood Flooring?
A: Are you wondering if you’ve got real wood flooring in your home? Hardwood refers to a flooring material that is solid wood all the way through. Most hardwood flooring comes in strips, planks or parquet and is available in thicknesses ranging from 5/16 to ¾ inches.
Hardwood is typically installed by nailing it down or gluing it to a concrete subfloor. Floating hardwood floors are also becoming more readily available – they install like laminate flooring – using a foam under-layer on top of a subfloor.
Hardwood that’s in really bad shape is capable of sanding and refinishing many, many times – you can’t do that with laminate flooring!
Q: What Kind of Floors Can I Restore with Your Professional Wood Restorer?
A: You can use our Professional Wood Restorer on many species of hardwood floors including:
Common Hardwood Species
Bamboo is not included in our list, while often associated with hardwood flooring, it is actually a type of grass. Here are some of the most popular hardwood species.
- Oak
- Maple
- Cherry
- Walnut
- Hickory (also called Pecan)
- Mahogany
- Ash
- Birch
Exotic Hardwood Species
- Acacia
- Kempas
- Teak
- Mesquite
- Tigerwood
- Jarrah
- Australian Cypress
- Cumaru (AKA Brazilian Teak)
- Ipe (AKA Brazilian Walnut)
- Jatoba (AKA Brazilian Cherry)
Q: What’s the Difference Between Laminate and Engineered Wood?
A: Many people often confuse laminate flooring with engineered wood or hardwood.
Engineered wood refers to a thin veneer of real wood which has been glued to several layers of plywood and usually has a hardwood backing on the very bottom layer. Since the top wood surface is much thinner than solid hardwood, engineered wood floors can only be sanded down and refinished once (maybe twice) during its expected lifetime.
Did you know that laminate “wood” flooring doesn’t actually contain any wood? Most laminate flooring systems are made from a fiberboard core and melamine resin. What you’re looking at on the surface of laminate is basically a sticker that’s been imprinted with an image that resembles real wood.
So the final verdict is - can I use Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer with:
- Hardwood = yes
- Engineered wood = yes
- Laminate wood flooring = no (but you can use our All Floors Restorer
Q: Do I Have to Sand My Harwood Floors Before Using Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
A: No, that’s the great thing about our Professional Wood Floor Restorer, you do not have to sand your floors to restore them back to new. Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer reveals the beauty of your hardwood floors.
Use the product to instantly restore luster, seal and protect worn-down floors by adding a long lasting urethane based finish. Excellent for using on all previously sealed hardwood floors.
Our Satin Professional Wood Floor Restorer leaves behind a subtle, matte, satin finish that your guests are sure to compliment. For a shinier finish, try our High Gloss Professional Wood Floor Restorer.
Q: Why Should I Use Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
A: Congratulations on taking the first step in getting your hardwood or engineered wood floors back to looking like new. Let Rejuvenate help you turn back the hands of time!
Professional Wood Floor Restorer is a urethane-based product (not acrylic) and it restores wood floors and helps protect them from future damage. You only need to use one coat of the restorer because Rejuvenate products have more active ingredients compared to other brands.
Top 10 Reasons to Use Professional Wood Floor Restorer
- Restores hardwood floors
- One coat does it all
- Easy mop on application
- Made in the USA
- Resists stains and spills
- Bonds to original finish with no waxy build up*
- Durable urethane finish lasts for years
- Fills in scratches and protects against future damage
- No sanding required to renew hardwood floors
*Pro Tip:
Rejuvenate Restorer does not adhere well to hardwood floors that have an aluminum oxide finish. Check with the manufacturer for their recommendations on how to restore this type of flooring.
Q: What is the Difference Between Your Satin and High Gloss Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
Our Satin Professional Wood Floor Restorer leaves behind a subtle, matte, satin finish that your guests are sure to compliment. For a really bright and shiny finish, try our High Gloss Professional Wood Floor Restorer.
Both finishes are available as stand-alone products or part of a complete floor restoration system.
- Rejuvenate Floor Pro Gloss Restorer Kit contains:
- 1 – 32-oz. bottle Rejuvenate No-Bucket Floor Cleaner
- 1 – 32-oz. bottle Professional Wood Floor Restorer (High Gloss)
- 2 – Rejuvenate Microfiber Mop Bonnet Applicators
- Rejuvenate Floor Pro Restorer Satin Kit contains:
- 1 – 32-oz. bottle Rejuvenate No-Bucket Floor Cleaner
- 1 – 32-oz. bottle Professional Wood Floor Restorer (Satin)
- 2 – Rejuvenate Microfiber Mop Bonnet Applicators
Q: How Much Professional Wood Floor Restorer Do I Need to Buy to Refinish My Floors?
A: For a single coat or application of Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer:
- Our 16-oz. bottle covers up to 263 sq. ft.
- Our 32-oz. bottle covers up to 525 sq. ft.
- Our 1-gallon bottle covers up to 2,000 sq. ft.
Q: What Product Do I Use to Prep and Clean My Floors Prior to Applying Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
A: For the best results, we recommend you remove all wax or oil residue from the surface, then clean your floor with our Rejuvenate No Bucket Floor Cleaner. The floor cleaner removes dirt and grime and is the first step in any floor renewal or restoration project.
- No-Bucket Floor Cleaner
- Removes old residue left from other cleaning products
- Use this to clean and prep all flooring surfaces for refinishing with Satin Finish Professional Wood Floor Restorer or High Gloss Professional Wood Floor Restorer
Important Tip:
Our No-Bucket Floor Cleaner will not remove residue from oil or wax based cleaning agents such as Murphy's Oil Soap, Pine Sol or Mr. Clean. You can try using a non-ammonia window cleaner to remove heavy wax, oil or other residue build-up from the surface of your floors - just make sure it is ammonia-free! Follow up the removal of heavy build-up with a final cleaning using Rejuvenate Floor Cleaner.
We also offer a complete Hardwood & Laminate Floor Care System to clean and prep your floors. This kit includes:
- 1 - 32-oz. bottle No Bucket Floor Cleaner
- Expandable handle mop
- 2 - Microfiber Cleaning Pad Refills
- 1 - Microfiber Dusting Pad Refill
Pro Tip: Once the floor has been thoroughly cleaned, you must let it dry completely before using Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer. If you skip this important step, it is possible to trap water (moisture) between your floor and the restorer, resulting in a hazy or milky appearance.
Q: How Do I Repair Minor Scratches Before Restoring My Wood Floor?
A: After you’ve cleaned your floor, try our Wood Furniture and Floor Repair Markers to color in any scuffed or scratched areas. The markers come in a 6-piece set to match any natural wood tone:
- Maple
- Oak
- Cherry
- Walnut
- Mahogany
- Espresso
For the closest color match, you can layer or blend colors on top of each other and watch the scratches disappear! Rejuvenate Wood Furniture & Floor Repair Markers can also be used to repair minor damage on wood furniture and kitchen cabinets.
Pro Tip #1:
Our Floor Repair Markers work best when applied directly on exposed scratched surfaces
Pro Tip #2:
Our Wood Furniture Markers should be used BEFORE you apply any Rejuvenate Restorer products.
Q: What Can I Use to Remove Stubborn Water Rings and Ink Stains From My Floors?
A: Try Rejuvenate White Ring and Dark Ink Stain Removers Pens. The markers remove stubborn white stains from water rings from all wood flooring and furniture. The stain remover pens also cut through permanent marker and dark ink stains.
Clean your floors first with our No-Bucket floor cleaner before applying either of the stain remover pens. The 2-piece set includes one each of the white ring and dark ink stain remover pens.
Q: What Type of Mop Do I Need to Use with Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
A: For best results when applying Professional Wood Floor Restorer, we only recommend using a microfiber mop. Our Rejuvenate Microfiber Mop Bonnet Applicators can be placed over a standard-size sponge mop up to 9-inches wide.
We also offer two different Professional Wood Floor Restorer Kits for your convenience. Each kit covers up to 525 sq. ft., includes our Microfiber Mop Bonnet Applicators and is available in either a satin or high gloss finish.
For your convenience try one of our Microfiber Towels or Microfiber Mitt Applicators to touch up any areas that you might have missed with the mop. The Rejuvenate Microfiber Applicator Kit includes everything you need to apply our products to clean, polish and dust any surface in your home.
The kit includes:
- 1 – Rejuvenate Chamois & Microfiber Polishing Pad
- 4 – Rejuvenate Microfiber Mitt Applicators
- 8 – Rejuvenate Microfiber Towels
Q: Which Rejuvenate Floor Restoration Products Should I Use on My Wood Floor?
A: Make sure you use the right product for the job. You first must determine if you have hardwood, engineered wood, laminate or another type of flooring.
- Fills in scratches, shines and protects
- Use on flooring surface 5 years or older
- For all floors including wood, laminate, vinyl, tile, slate.
- Restores showroom shine
- Use on any newer flooring surfaces less than 5 years old
- For all floors including wood, laminate, vinyl, tile, slate
- For recently Rejuvenate floors
High Gloss Professional Wood Floor Restorer
- Provides a glossy finish
- For hardwood and engineered wood floors only
Satin Professional Wood Floor Restorer
- Provides a matte satin finish
- For hardwood and engineered wood floors only
Q: What is the difference between Wood Floor Professional Restorer and All Floors Restorer?
A: The Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer line (available in either a Satin or High-Gloss finish) is a polyurethane-based product (not acrylic) that is specially formulated for hardwood floors only. Do not use our Professional Wood Floor Restorer product line on laminates or anything other than hardwood or engineered wood.
Rejuvenate All Floors Restorer is a water based formula which adds a beautiful protective shine to your surface, brings back the luster, and adds up to 50% more traction to the area. It can be used on most flooring surfaces including hardwood. Please see our All Floors Restorer Guide for detailed instructions on how to use that product.
We recommend that you follow the instructions on the Professional Wood Floor Restorer bottle in its entirety. Your first step would be to remove any wax or oil residue left by other cleaners, then use the Rejuvenate No-Bucket Floor Cleaner to properly prepare your flooring surfaces before applying the restorer.
Important Tip:
Please spot test our products in an inconspicuous area first to make sure they meet your satisfaction.
Q: Can I Use a Steam Mop After Using Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
A: We do not recommend using a steam mop on Rejuvenated floors. The high heat and moisture generated by a steam mop may start to soften or lift up or remove the Rejuvenate product from the floor. This may happen immediately or take place over time with repeated use of a steam mop.
Also, as a result of using a steam mop, it may leave a streaky, hazy, milky look on your floors. For best results, we recommend our No Bucket Floor Cleaner or our Floor Shine Refresher to clean and maintain all Rejuvenated floors.
Q: How do I apply Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer?
A: All of our products have explicit directions and cautions printed on their labels, which we have expanded on in our detailed Professional Wood Floor Restorer users guide.
Special Note
For the best results, we recommend that you always test an inconspicuous area if this is the first time using one of our floor restoration products.
Rejuvenate Your Floors with Professional Wood Restorer Using a 5-Step Process:
1. Clean
2. Prep
3. Pour
4. Mop
5. Allow to Dry
Clean
- Sweep your floor to remove any loose dirt and debris
- Thoroughly clean your floors with Rejuvenate No Bucket Floor Cleaner to remove all remaining grime, stains or residue leftover from other floor cleaning and restoration products
- Let floors dry completely
- Pro Tip: A milky haze may develop if you apply the restorer before your floors are completely dry
Prep
- Place a clean Rejuvenate Microfiber Bonnet Applicator over the head of a sponge mop
- Gently rock the bottle back and forth 3 to 4 times to mix
- Pro Tip: Do not shake or harshly agitate the bottle before use as this can cause air bubbles to form in the product
Pour
- Using an S pattern, pour Rejuvenate Professional Wood Floor Restorer directly on your clean and dry floor
- Work on a small area at a time (about 4 ft. x 4 ft.)
Mop
- Use the microfiber mop to evenly spread the restorer, working in the direction of the grains/planks, before moving on to the next area of your floor
- Continue working on small sections until the entire floor has been restored
- Pro Tip: Don’t apply in a crisscross direction – you want to work your mop evenly across the floor – going with the wood grain
Let Dry
- Allow to dry for at least 1 hour before walking on floor
- If desired, a 2nd coat may be applied after 2 hours
- Allow final coat to dry 24-hours before replacing furniture, rugs or resuming heavy foot or pet-traffic
- DO NOT DRAG FURNITURE ACROSS A REJUVENATED SURFACE
- Pro Tip: If you miss a spot, DO NOT go over the area again. Wait until your floor is completely dry then pour some of the Professional Wood Floor Restorer on a clean microfiber towel or applicator mitt and touch up any missed spots
Q: How Do I Clean and Maintain My Restored Floors?
A: General Floor Restoration Maintenance Tips
- Our No-Bucket Floor Cleaner is the only product recommended for recently Rejuvenated floors
- The floor cleaner is perfect for everyday cleaning
- You can also use Rejuvenate Shine Refresher to clean and prolong the shine of recently Rejuvenated floors
Important Tip: Do not use any solvents, ammonia-based or orange type cleaners as they will damage the shine and luster of your Rejuvenated floors. However, you can use an all-purpose cleaner that is oil-free, does not contain citrus and is pH balanced – or simply use a mop lightly dampened with cool water.
