How to Refresh Your Hardwood Floors in 30 Minutes or Less

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Brandon and I bought a foreclosure earlier this year. It was vacant for over a year before we bought it. We have been slowly fixing it up and getting it ready for someone new to make it their home. Right now we are way over schedule and just a little over budget. It’s getting down to the wire, and we need to get creative.

By creative, I don’t mean a cheap, chintzy fix. Our goal isn’t to cut corners and save money at all costs. We aim to come up with innovative ways to save time and money without sacrificing quality. This fix does exactly that. It is one of the easiest and cheapest fixes we have come across so far.

Neglected Hardwood Floors

This home has hardwood floors in the upstairs. The floors were in okay shape, but they needed some love. They were dull, dry, and dirty with grime, gunk, and old paint splatters. We don’t have the expertise, time, or money to completely refinish these floors, so we needed to figure something out.

I did some research online and came across Minwax Floor Reviver. If you have thirty minutes and thirty dollars, then you can refresh your hardwood floors. Full disclosure: this will not give you the same look as sanding and refinishing your floors, but it will make a huge difference!

Refreshing the Hardwood Floors

There are no tricks or special tools needed. The instructions are straight forward and easy to follow. Even someone with little patience for details, like myself, can pull this off’.

Prepping the Floor

The most time-consuming part of the job is cleaning the hardwood floors to prep them for the Minwax Reviver. Hopefully, you don’t have to deal with years of grime and paint splatters as I did. If your floors have been well maintained, then they need a simple dusting and mopping to remove any dust and dirt.

If you have to deal with layers of grime and old paint, then you will need a little more time, some elbow grease, a small putty knife, a Scotch-Brite sponge with handle, some Goo Gone, and a bucket of warm water.

Start with the Scotch-Brite sponge dipped in the warm water. Scrub the hardwood floor where you find gunk, grime, and/or paint splatters. For pesky mystery gunk that the sponge isn’t quite getting, pour some Goo Gone on the gunk. Wait a minute or two and then scrub again. If the gunk is still hanging around, then lightly go at it with the putty knife.

The putty knife also works well to get rid of old paint splatters. Again, scrub the splatter first with the wet scotchbrite sponge. Then lightly scrape the edge of the splatter with the putty knife. Be sure not to press too hard with the putty knife.

If you hear a crunchy or scratchy sound while you are scraping with the putty knife, you need to stop right away. You may be scratching any finish left on your hardwood floors. As you can see from the picture below I didn’t have to worry too much about scratching the finish because there wasn’t much left.

Repeat the Scotch-Brite sponge, warm water, Goo Gone, and putty knife process until you have the floor as good as you can get it. Wait for it to dry, and then sweep and mop the hardwood floor. You want it to be as clean as possible when you apply the Reviver. Once your floors are clean and dry, you are ready to move on to the fun part-shining them up!

 

Applying Minwax Reviver

You will need a large stain pad. (I used a ten-inch stain pad that could go into a mop head like this one.) Attach your stain pad to your mop, and then you are ready to go. Read the directions on the bottle, but in general, they say to apply the solution in an “S” shape over a three-foot by three-foot section. Apply with the grain and don’t spread too thin. Let it dry for at least a couple of hours before walking on it. And one coat is all you should need. That’s it; there’s not much to it.

Tips Not Included in the Instructions

A couple of tips based on my experience. Go in only one direction with your stain pad. I found mopping from the top of the “S” towards my feet worked best for me. Lift the mop up, go to the top of the “S” again, and mop toward you again. Repeat until the “S” has disappeared. Then move on to your next area, follow the same technique, and repeat until you have finished the entire hardwood floor.

If you are working with dry and dull floors like mine, then work in smaller sections (two feet by two feet versus three feet by three feet). You can apply multiple coats, and it will improve each time. Again, this is especially true if your hardwood floors are dull and have next to no finish left. I put two coats on one bedroom, and three coats on the other. The last coats on each made all the difference.

The Reveal

Here are the finished results. The hardwood floors are not refinished. You can still see scratches, but the floors look so much nicer. I will definitely use Reviver again, especially on bedrooms like these where most of the floor will end up being covered by furniture and a rug. This is a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to give your floors some new life.  I think the new homeowners will enjoy these floors for years to come.