Streaks from mopping sanded and stained unfinished floor

Q: We just laid new unfinished redwood flooring. We sanded and stained. It looked great. We mopped it with a slightly damp rag mop to get all dust particles up before we put he poly coat on. As it was drying we saw streaks of what looked liked uniform lines of dust left behind from the mop.

We let it dry to see if it was more of a moisture thing and the streaks were still there. They are about 1″ to 1 1/2 ” in width. I got a rag to see if I could just wipe it up to break up the uniform look. I used first a dry rag then got a slightly damp rag and they are not coming up.

It’s in the exact pattern that my husband moved the mop in and the streaks are spaced out about the reach of the mop. In between those streaks the floor looks great. I’m afraid if we poly coat it will seal those streaks in. My husband thinks with a poly coat it might actually blend them in so they are not noticeable.

We just used water no chemicals. This is our second time to lay wood floors in our home same exact kind and we didn’t have this issue.

A: When I stain a floor and before applying the first coat I generally just vacuum well with a soft brush. After buffing between coats I vacuum and then wipe the floor down with a micro weave mop, dry. As long as this wasn’t a water based stain, I would expect those marks to go away with application of the finish.

Leave a Comment