Q: I used a urethane maintenance coating for unwaxed floors. (A***** hardwood floor refinisher.) It has made a horrible mess; peeling, flaking, etc. Can you help me with any suggestions of what I can do to remove it?
Mineral spirits will remove it with lots of rubbing, but it would take me weeks of elbow grease to do by hand.
A: Oh boy. Sounds like the horses are already out of the barn. It would be a good thing if all installers and finishers provided information after jobs are completed, as to what to use and not use. I generally provide a brochure on floor care, listing acceptable products, and tell the homeowner that if they are in doubt about anything “call me first”.
I had one lady from the U.S. that emailed with a similar issue. The cleaner that was recommended to her left the floors looking dull. Then she was told to use any aftermarket product she wanted. After a year, they were at the end of their wits. I recommended a product that is great for cleaning urethane finishes. Bona Pacific floor cleaner. www.bonakemi.com. Here are her comments after using this product.:
Craig,
Well I don’t even know how to thank you for your suggestion of Bona Kemi Hardwood floor cleaner, I don’t think I can begin to explain how bad my floors looked and I just kept putting B******* cleaner and O***** *** and vinegar and water on them, not ever thinking I was compounding the problem!! We went through 2 gallons of Swedish cleaner, and at least 12-15 hours of very hard back breaking labor but finally my floors look great!!! The old product peeled off like a sunburn would, just came up in layers of “skin”! Mounds of old product, we finally broke down and used a car buffing with a soft sponge pad to help break through the layers of junk!! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my e-mail, I have been trying to get help with this for almost a year and you were the first person to really help us!!! I promise I will use nothing but Bona kKemi on my floors forever!!!