Wax Finish for Wood Flooring

Wax finish is still a lot found until today. Although there are many modern finishing materials available, the wax finish still has fans. Instead of being used for furniture, the wax is also often used for wood flooring. Wax for flooring is actually the same as for wood furniture; they work with the same principles and have particularly similar properties. According to the ingredient, there are two types: carnouba wax and bee wax. Carnouba wax is produced from the carnouba palm, a palm tree from Brazil. Meanwhile, the bee wax is made from the honeycomb. At this time, when some brands and wax producers are available, a lot of mixing and modifications have been made ​​to make the wax more flexible to meet the needs in the wood finishing industry.

 Flooring wax finish

Wax, however, will not form a protective film layer as a coating, varnish, or shellac. The wax will saturate from inside the wood and give a thin protective film on the surface. The wax must fill the pores and the grain completely to leave a protective hardening layer behind the surface. Since the wood floor is saturated, there is no wax on the surface. There is no film layer that provides protection from the physical abuse. There is no resistance to the staining liquids such as coffee, wine, cola, etc. As soon as the wood hardens, it can bear quite a bit of protection from water, but before coming to this, the floor must be saturated, and it can take some time. The saturated time could be a very long time; it may take years, but now the saturation can be fastened by applying oil before the wax application.

The waxed wood floor's slippery surface helps it to be better resistant to scratches. Actually, mostly the scratches are almost invisible since of the natural wood color appearance. The wax does not seal the wood as varnish; it still keeps the wood breathing freely. The wax is also elastic; the wood floor can still undergo its normal setting without any crack appearing.

The wax can be repaired and renewed on the spot or entirely. A new layer of wax can be applied when there is some spot or damage in a certain area. The wax for the entire surface is most often used to renew the finish. It can be done once every year to take care of the flooring.

The wax application

The wax finish is used to make a transparent finish. The wax finish is only proper to the wood with good quality. The teak wood, merbau, walnut, hickory, and other woods that have nice grain and color and have enough strength and hardness are the proper wood. The wax finish will enhance the natural beauty of the wood but cannot add color to the finish. The color of the finish is highly determined by the natural color of the wood. 

The proper wood preparation is very crucial. The wood has to be well sanded and properly dry. The wood surface has to be plain, smooth, and free from oil, grease, wax, or other chemicals. We may need to select the wood to make sure wood flooring products are well blended and matching each other. Too-fine sandpaper sanding should be avoided. The final sanding with #120 grade is recommended to keep the pores and grain open to let the impregnation oil well penetrate into the pores and grains.

The oil is applied before the wax to saturate the wood pores and grain. The oil application manner varies from brand to brand. The oil can be applied by roll, brush, or even with a metal spatula. Apply the oil to the entire wood surface. After about 15–30 minutes, clean the oil excess with a white pad. The excess of the oil will create an irregular surface visually and affect the hardening by the wax.

Depending on the wood type, temperature, and air humidity, the dying time of the oil is about 12 hours to 24 hours. Afterwards, the wax can be applied. Wax is applied in a thin layer, evenly to the overall surface. The wood will only absorb the wax as he can; too much wax will leave a thick and sticky layer of wax on the surface.

The wax that has been applied has to be polished out. The wax applied to the wood surfaces will give a dull appearance. To make a shiny surface clean, then we have to polish the wax. We can polish by hand, but it will take a lot of energy and time. We can use a buffing machine (polishing machine) to polish the wax with a more consistent result. 

The maintenance to the wax floor finish

A polished wood floor demands certain vigilance. It is advisable to regularly use a “swiffer” to remove the dust. The parquet needs to be mopped with a well-run cloth. The damaged or scratched part may not contact with water. Everywhere there is damage must immediately be treated with additional floor wax. Depending on the intensity with which it is walked upon the floor, it must be regularly retreated. For heavily threaded floors, the treatment for the flooring may be done every month.

A polished wood floor has the advantage that tropical wear and tear can be touched up tropically. The frequency with which the floor needs a touch becomes less as the years go by. The better the wood floor saturated, the smaller for additional wax treatment.