Whoops, I almost forgot to tell you about how I scrubbed and re-sealed the existing hardwoods right before we moved in (literally, like 26 hours before we moved in). The new hardwoods upstairs were looking so flossy and glossy, I didn’t want the ones in the office, living room, and dining room to feel so 2000 and late. So I gave them some love. Wax on, wax off, baby.
First I swept up the random dust and old faux Christmas tree leaves and all the other stuff that was left behind.
Not a bad pile for an empty looking room, eh?
Then I bought this Bona stuff at Home Depot because I had heard good things about it when it comes to cleaning and glossing up floors that are old/dulled/mildly scratched (you know, floors that don’t need a full re-finishing but could use some moisture/polish to fill in small scrapes and seal them again).
You know, little stuff like this.
After sweeping, the next step was to use their floor cleaning spray, by just working my way around the room spraying it on the floor and following that with the mop (with the cleaning pad on it). This made me mad sweaty, yo. So I give it a 7 on the exertion scale. You’re not just swabbing over the floors like you’re swiffering, you’re scrubbing the heck outta them to get them nice and clean.
Then came the actual sealing/polishing step. This was a lot less rigorous (so you ARE doing the swiffer motion here). The idea is just to gently spread out the liquid that you’re pouring out of the bottle as you work your way out of the room. Oh and for this step you have to use a polishing pad on the mop (it’s more like a lamb’s wool pad while the cleaning one is a bit more scrubbing-sponge-like). Note: see the green painters tape on my mop? That thing came out of the box all wonky and broken, so I had to MacGuyver it together.
In this picture you can see how the floor that I had done was all moisturized and shiny (top left of the pic below) while the floor behind the polish pad is kind of dull and dry.
Sadly, by the time I worked my way out of the room I was only mildly impressed. Parts of it had dried and looked just like they did before (dull, grayed, slightly scratched, etc) while other areas that were still wet looked awesome.
But once they dried… they were all chalky and dry again. I’m not sure if it was just something about our floors and the way they were refinished decades ago (some folks must love this stuff since we heard great things) but it wasn’t an awesome enough result for me to get going on the other two room’s floors. So it was back to Home Depot, where I bought another brand called Rejuvenate. It came in satin and high gloss but I chose high gloss since the floors upstairs are nice and shiny, which we like.
I still used the same Bona cleaning spray and the same Bona mop (with the cleaning head on it) since I already had those on hand and didn’t mind the job they did. It was just the Bona sealer that had left me high and dry (ok, just dry). So I switched ol’ Wonky Mop’s head to the polishing one, but this time instead of using it to spread the Bona stuff, I worked my way out of the room with the Rejuvenate wood floor restorer. The room looked like this before:
And this after:
Granted it still had to dry a bit in that shot above, but the comparison between the Bona stuff and the Rejuvenate stuff definitely left us liking Rejuvenate a lot better. It went on more evenly and left everything rich and sealed looking – even well after it dried. Nothing looked chalky a few hours later, and I was able to apply two coats in each room (you could apply them a few hours apart instead of waiting 24 hours like the Bona stuff required) which was awesome. I even went back and did the office again with the Rejuvenate stuff instead of doing a second coat of Bona in there. And I was so much happier with it.
Here’s the dining room all dry. Flossy and glossy, eh? This is how the living room dried as well, and the office looks the same now that we went over it.
Have you used a floor cleaning and resealing system to bring life back to dull, mildly scratched, or chalky floors? Did you try Bona, Rejuvenate, or something else? Ever tried two different options for a smackdown to the death what’s-better comparison?
Psst – Here’s a post with an update on how the floors are holding up seven months later. Still going strong!
Update – We finally created this Shop Our House page to help you hunt down any furniture/accessories that you see in our house, along with all of our paint colors.
*This post contains affiliate links to projects we have purchased and loved*
Karen Shea says
Do you think it matters if your hardwood floors were last done with an oil or water based sealant? Just wondering since ours were refinished about 5 years ago with a water-based product, but are in need of some post-toddler/dog love already…
Kristin says
Rejuvenate is the best! My parents are moving from our long time home out to a home with some acreage in the country. They have 6 dogs and 2 cats (yes, you read that right!), although four of the dogs are weiner dogs and their little paw prints are always everywhere. They used rejuvenate before putting their open house and the realtor said they couldn’t tell there were any dogs because the floors looked brand new!
Autumn Beach says
Oooohhhh…shiny! I likey. Sherry, you never cease to amaze me! Scrubbing and resealing the hardwoods HOURS before move-in! How do you DO it?!
I use the Bona cleaner on our hardwoods and the same thing happens to me. I’m all excited about the initial shine and then just minutes later…whomp whomp. I haven’t tried any kind of resealing products as our floors are fairly new. But when I do, I will definitely reach for Rejuvenate. Thanks!
Heidi P. says
Opposite of floor related, but just wondering if you guys have tossed around the idea of a coffered ceiling somewhere in this house?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, yes, yes! It’s on Listy McListerson I think. We’d love one in the living room since we have beams (halfway there, haha!).
xo
s
Paula says
So glad you discovered Rejuvenate. Its my secret I’ve been sharing for years. So simple to use and its like magic. I also use it on my stone entry and it looks just stunning.
There is only one downside….its really slick afterwards and our puppy sometimes slides….okay so maybe not a downside so much as entertainment!!
`P
Amanda says
LOL, yes, do not use it on stairs! We used it on ours just like the rest of the floors and while it looked great it was a tad bit slick, oops!
YoungHouseLove says
Ack, good tip!
xo
s
Bonnie says
I’ve used the Orange Glo kit and I love it!
Stephanie says
I used Rejuvenate years ago and was quite impressed with it. Recently, my friend tried Bona, which she got at Target, and gave it a good review. So I picked some up and spent some time on my hands and knees going over every square inch of our hardwoods. Sure they were clean afterward, but I wasn’t impressed with the final look. Next time my hardwoods are due for a deep cleaning and shining up, I’ll go back to the Rejuvenate.
Nita E. says
I like to think that your Bona mop is blinged with the painters’ tape :)
The floors look fab!
Amanda says
We moved into a parsonage a few years ago and the hardwood floors looked slightly worse than yours. Ideally some of them needed refinishing but of course the church members weren’t going to pay for that. So we talked them into paying for some rejuvenate for us to try out on it. It wasn’t a perfect fix but it was a huge improvement! It’s nice to see what a great job it does on just slightly dry wood floors like yours. We continued using the rejuvenate cleaner every time we cleaned the floors and they really helped keep it looking just as nice as when we did it.
Alicia says
The floors look amazing! How long do you have to wait to walk on them afterwards?
Also, any tips for cleaning the floors on a daily/weekly basis? We have been in our house a year and the floors are looking dull. We currently use a steam mop but would love some tips from other hardwood floor home owners.
YoungHouseLove says
I just use a moist mop to apply mild soap (like watered down Dr Bronners or Mrs Meyers) for cleaning. And as for the waiting time after Rejuvenation, it was 1-2 hours until you could apply the second coat (and walk lightly on it) but wait 24 hours after the final one to put furniture down on it and give it heavy traffic.
xo
s
Joyce B says
Rejuevenate is awesome! I have a large dog who has damaged our floors to the point they will someday need to be sanded so I felt I had nothing to lose and everything to gain three years ago when I first tried Rejuevenate. It doesn’t fill in the deeper dog marks but it certainly makes me feel better to have the shine back. I probably have done this process three times and maybe every 6-8 months. Shiny scratched floors are better than dull scratched floors any day!
karin says
Rehuvenate it is! I tried the Bona before and like you I was not impressed, so I kinda just gave up on that. Now my brother is coming to visit from Germany and I want the floor in the guestroom all shiny! Thanks for doing the product testing for me!
Chrissie says
And here I thought we were getting a post on hair removal!
We have hardwood floors, which are gorgeous but need to be cleaned up again. We sanded and varnished them a couple of years ago, but stuff builds up over time. It’s interesting to see that they can come up so well just with cleaning and waxing them, so maybe we’ll try that instead of more sanding this time.
I love the high gloss finish! Have you found that it shows dirt more easily? I’ve heard mixed reviews on glossy floorboards, but they look so nice that I’m tempted to give it a go.
YoungHouseLove says
Good question, I don’t notice that it does. I can see how the theory would make sense but it’s nothing super annoying or noticeable (I vacuum about once a week and it’s all good).
xo
s
Chrissie says
Huzzah! Shiny floors for all :-)
Melissa says
Sherry, I have used Bona floor cleaner on the recommendation of my floor refinisher 15 years ago and have never looked back. He told me it is the only thing I should ever use on my floors. HOWEVER, I also used Rejuvenate pre-finished hardwood floors and it looked fantastic for about 3 months and then it started to flake off and then it started to mar each and every time that a tiny drop of water would touch it. Since the wood floors continued from my kitchen into the dining and living areas……it was a nightmare. It is of course, impossible to keep water off of the kitchen floor. When the dishwasher was unloaded, small drips occurred and left white marks where each one dropped. When it rained and small amounts of water would be tracked in on our feet, you could see what I only know to call white “water rings” on the floor. It ended up ruining our floors and they had to be re finished. That was the Rejuvenate product of 6 years ago. I certainly hope that the product you used has changed in some way. The one I used was definitely not a product I ever would have used again.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! I’ve heard the same complaint from others of Bona here in the comments (flaking down the line, etc), so I’m beginning to think it must have to do with what’s on your floors beforehand and floor types (reacting with what you put over them, etc). So far at over a month in we’re really happy with it, but we’ll definitely post an update if something changes! Thankfully from the comments it seems like a lot of people have used the Rejuvenate product more recently and been really happy with it, so hopefully the formulas of all this stuff are better since 6 years ago :)
xo
s
Stephanie Wheeler says
We just rejuvenated our floors, and we love how they look! Also, there was a $6 rebate in the June issue of Better Homes and Gardens :D
Petra says
Didn’t even know this type of thing existed!!!
Meghan says
Oh, Girl! Don’t even get me started on this topic! I spent nearly all spring…no joke….figuring out our foyer and den’s hardwood floor. There were lots of knicks and scratches on them from the kids but the most irritating thing was that the product that I used for four years on them, Orange Glo, had built up so badly that it was starting to turn white and blister and peel from the floor. It looked terrible. I won’t even go into all of the different home remedies and solutions and chipping and scraping that I had to do on that floor. I bought the Rejuvinate system and it seriously worked like magic! If it didn’t work I was going to have to call a professional to come in and strip it and stain it. Now, the floors look better than when we moved in! It really holds up too! Glad the Rejuvinate worked for you!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so awesome to hear Meghan!
xo
s
Christy says
Good to know, Wish I had know about those products years ago, our first house had a nasty dirty wood floors, I hand scrubbed those babies and then went around with cocoa butter and a steel wool to get some of the black gummy rough spots off
Debi says
Hi! This is my first comment with you! Just found your blog – I know I’m behind the times!!
I have laminate flooring in my main floor, and have used the Bona products (in place of Swiffer) since my builder replaced my laminate this past winter. Love the Bona products! I haven’t done the whole sealing thing, being laminate.
However, I LOVE the Watco Rejuvenate for furniture. I redo antique/vintage furniture and other things and I swear by Rejuvenate. It really does the job of bringing wood, especially, back to beautiful condition.
Can’t wait to read more of your posts!! Thank you!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Debi! I just learned they make stuff for furniture, so it’s awesome that it works so well on vintage/antique stuff!
xo
s
Debi says
So happy to find this blog!!! The debate is always great between products isn’t it? I will add my 2 cents worth – I LOVE the Watco Rejuvenate for wood furniture (it’s in the stain aisle at Lowe’s). I redo antique/vintage furniture and I use Rejuvenate on almost all of it!
I do use Bona products on my laminate flooring – but I don’t have the real hardwood so can’t speak to that. I just know I love the Rejuvenate that I do use!
Thanks so much for your posts! So happy to have found this blog! I have lots of catching up to do!!
Tara says
Rejuvenate is awesome. They also have a “refresher” spray that will spruce up the shine after you sealed it. I love to use it after parties when my wood floors have more traffic than they are used to
Jillian says
I need to do this on my first floor. Any suggestions on doing this with a first floor filled with furniture???
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, I think this would work best on a room that’s cleared, so maybe just use a cleaner on an uncleared room?
xo
s
michele says
the wonk mop! i so know of this. (never used the Bona polish, but use the cleaner on the regular.)
how to describe this… did you try to screw the male part of the connections – thus widening the base of each one, making them better stick in the female end? it’s not fullproof (i still have to re-tighten them every now and then) but i’ve been using it for a year and it’s not too bad.
(unlike when i pulled it out of the box and i was like “why won’t this stay on?!?!)
the floors look gorge! :) happy 4th!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, that’s my intended method although something snapped off and flew across the room at some point, so the tape had to come out! Haha!
xo
s
Jessica says
Oooh..thanks for doing the test run. I’ve got some wood floors that could use a little love, so now I’ll know what I’m staring at in the cleaning aisle next time.
Patti says
I love Quick Shine Floor Finish / Wood Floors and more, by Holloway House(green cap and label). Very long lasting and high gloss. Can be purchased separately and applied with a sponge mop or as a kit that includes an applicator/pad. Dries in 15-30 minutes and up to 6 coats can be applied for higher gloss. Two coats on my floors looked great. I have not used their floor cleaners, but can vouch for the Floor Finish.
Lainey says
My husband and I were discussing this and we went on Amazon where Rejuvinate had 40 1 star reviews and 30 star reviews… i would love to get an update on how this continues to work for you. I’m wondering as well if the results have something to do with the type of floors you are working with.
YoungHouseLove says
I totally think so! It has been so interesting to hear from everyone about what worked for them and what they loathed and it really does seem to differ a ton!
xo
s
Sarah says
I was also disappointed in the Bona polish, but then I realized that the stuff you are supposed to use to rejuvenate an old wood floor is actually called Bona Professional hardwood Floor Refresher. This one gets tons of good reviews on Amazon but I never see it at the hardware stores. I ordered it but have yet to clear out my rooms and use it!
YoungHouseLove says
Such a bummer that one wasn’t at the store, I totally would have grabbed it!
xo
s
Carolyn says
Sorry you had to go through the extra step of buying another product…after we put in our floors, Bona was also recommended. I always use it for cleaning and stop at that point and have been happy with the results. The floor people never recommended the second step.
Oriah says
Hi. The improvement looks good but i’m curious about your plans for the flooring. I had my floors sanded down to the wood and 3 coats of poly applied about 7 years ago and they still look great (mostly because we’re those pesky “no shoes in the house” sort of people). The woman who did our floors told me to never use any product on my floors other than damp mopping with water and vinegar. She said any other product would leave a residue that would prevent me from having the floor screened and sealed later…basically other products would necessitate having the floors sanded down to bare wood again. Were your floors in mostly good shape?….or, are you considering this is short term solution to make things nicer for now?
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve heard from folks about the residue issue in the comments and many of them said they used something for many years and then they had residue and thought they had to refinish and then they used Rejuvenate and it saved them from having to refinish and stripped back the residue/flaking, so that was interesting to read! In our case we don’t have plans to refinish down the line, they just felt a little dry and had some tiny hairline scratches that both the Bona and the Rejuvenate said they would solve on the packaging.
xo
s
Robin says
Our original-to-the-house oak floors (as in, from the 1950’s) were refinished about a year ago. We didn’t apply a polyurethane since we prefer a matte look vs shiny. So, they were simply oiled like a piece of wood furniture.
Recently I made the huge mistake of spreading a fine powder everywhere that was supposed to help kill fleas naturally, and it got stuck in the grain of the wood. Dried the wood out, too. Nothing would get it up including sweeping, vacuuming, swiffering, microfiber brooms. Ugh, not my finest moment… Anyway, we finally ended up calling the guy who refinished our floors for advice, and he told us to just use the same oil he used to seal the wood to clean it/rehydrate. This guy has been in business for 50 years refinishing wood floors full time and swears by Watco Danish Oil (we used the natural, no color added). Watco Oil shown here: http://www.lowes.com/pd_81303-90-000000000000065751_0__
The oil cleaning process *is* labor intensive since you have to apply a coat of oil by hand with a rag in the direction of the grain, then wipe off the excess with a clean rag. Then you let it sit for a day or so to cure. You end up working a 2’x2′ space at a time until you finish a room. It took me approx. 1 hour to do a 10’x10′ space, and it’s also hard on the knees.
I will say the wood looks gorgeous and perfect afterwards.
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds really nice!
xo
s
Diana Minutelli says
Minwax made an awesome product for cleaning hardwood floors.
I bought it at Lowes. About a year ago it became harder to find. I bought the last bottles on the shelf and that’s the last I’ve seen it. I took two pictures but don’t see any way to attach them here. Wish I could…I love how my hardwoods look with the Minwax. I’d tried other cleaners without satisfaction. With only a teensy bit left in the bottle I’m not sure to which product I’ll next turn.
Shawn says
I just had a similar bad experience with the Bona High Gloss Polish. We maintain the floors with the Bona Cleaner, and it works quite well. I applied Bona High Gloss Polish to the floors last fall and it worked OK but had worn off. A couple weekends ago I applied it again to get a shiny polished look to the floors again and they came out horrible (and I followed the intstructions to a T and used Bona’s applicator for the polish). The floors came out with a very matte finish (even though we bought high gloss) and streaky. No idea what could have caused it; Bona says the house could have been too warm; either way, the floors look like crap and now the Bona Polish is stuck on there (until it wears off again).
Did you have any issues applying Rejuvinate over top of the Bona Polish?
YoungHouseLove says
I didn’t have any issues, it just went right over it and added a lot more gloss (our Bona ones also looked really matte when they dried).
xo
s
Caitlin says
I think the thing with Bona is that it’s meant for very specific conditions. I used to clean houses for a living and the people who owned one of the houses had brand new wood floors put in and the company that put them in told them to use Bona on them from day one and nothing else. Let me tell you, those floors were lovely, but they had never had any other product used on them, and never had been mopped with water and soap. Essentially they used Bona to mop the floors. It worked really well (even cleaning food and gunk up) and the floors looked brand new every single time I cleaned them with Bona, which was about once a week. I seriously doubt it would make floors look that nice if they were “used” floors. My parents have very tired wood floors, finish worn off, lots of wear, and I would never imagine it working for them. But if you got new floors and used this from the start I think they might keep the floors looking really nice.
YoungHouseLove says
Good to know!
xo
s
Cathy Schiele says
LOVE LOVE your blog!! FYI Bona has a higher priced mop that has a bottle of the cleaner attached that you just push a button on the handle to spray. Much, much easier than spraying by hand. There is also a button to push with your foot on the mop head that makes the head vibrate to get at tough stains. I’ve had good luck with the cleaner and the refresher. Try and return the wonky mop
and use the refund to buy the better mop.
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip about the spray mop!
xo
s
Margaret says
This is super helpful. The floors in our new to us house are oak and lighter, which I thought I’d hate but am actually really digging. Since we didn’t have time between close and move-in to get them refinished, This might be a solution until we can work ourselves and our budget up to getting them redone.
Shannon says
I used Rejuvenate from Home Depot and it was a disaster! It looked awesome for the first couple of months but after walking on it and doing regular cleanings it became a white hazy mess that looked all scuffed and started to flake in some of the high traffic areas. It looked worse than my dull looking floors. I tried may solutions to get it off my floors and the only thing that finally worked after Googling the heck out of it was to spray Windex on the floors and scrape it off with a credit card! I went through bottles of Windex and lots of sweat to get it off. I have grown to love my dull looking floors after that disaster.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man that stinks! Someone else said Bona did that (flaking and residue/haziness) and using Rejuvenation solved it. I bet it depends what’s on your floors (sounds like some floors react well with Bona and others do better with Rejuvenation).
xo
s
Bailey says
Wow those floors look great! I don’t think I knew that you could do a “replenishing” job on wood floors – someone should have told my parents that growing up ;)
xox
Bailey
http://akabailey.blogspot.com
Debbi says
When we moved into a 70 yo home, we had to scrape the carpet that had been glued down to the hardwood beneath. We had to rent a drum sander and refinish about 900 sq ft. Took us almost a week of working 8 hrs a day. Whew! Never try that again–we are too old. Will try Rejuev first~~
Christina says
We have a 1940’s house that has old/tired/dry wood trim and a couple doors in the living room that my hubby won’t let me paint. I do love it, but it needs SOMETHING, whether it’s a restore or a paint job… but since painting is not an option, do you think the Rejuvenate would work for this type of thing? This post just gave me a little bit of hope…
YoungHouseLove says
I think it’s definitely worth a try, maybe just do a small test spot? Good luck!
xo
s
Becky says
Looks fantastic! Our wood floors are in need of some love, so I will keep this in mind when we need to do them. Thanks for sharing!
Janet says
My hardwood floors have a polyurethane finsh. I use an ocedar PROMIST microfiber spray mop. For my cleaning solution I use a very small amount of DAWN ultra dishwashing liquid detergent (blue/original scent); and immediately after cleaning, wipe the floor with a clean damp cloth and then dry the floor.
Annie says
I’ve had lots of good experience with Holloway House Quick Shine. You can usually get it in a bigger grocery store. I only wish the lovely shine lasted longer!
maude says
That really is a magnificent difference.
deb says
Just checked on Amazon. Great price andddd…. they deliver to New Zealand! Ummm for $121.00! Oh well. haha
YoungHouseLove says
Booooooo!
xo
s
Lucas says
We used rejuvenate. When we bought our house the previous owner had left some behind, we tried it and fell in love. I can’t believe how well it works!
Jen F says
Wow, similar kind of day. We did the same sweep on our floors (but I think our dirt pile was about 3X as big cause of our cat and how LONG it has been since we swept under the bed. Loved our Bona swifter with the built in spray. I wasn’t trying to reshine, but I’m just thrilled to be looking at a super clean floor!
Elizabeth says
Hi Sherry-
You did a similar trick with a piece of furniture some time ago. It wasn’t a full re-finishing, but rather a rejuvenation of a piece that was in pretty good shape. This post is reminding me of that and a project that is on the list for this summer. Will you send me a link to that old post?
Thank you!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, that was with Feed & Wax. Here’s the link for ya: https://www.younghouselove.com/2013/03/hiding-the-cable-box-sealing-the-deal/
xo
s
Elizabeth says
thank you… I appreciate it!
Tracy says
I so hear you on Bona! Why do people love it so much? We’ve used it on and off for 3 years now on out refinished floors, and I hate to say it, but it sucks. We kinda just assumed we weren’t doing it right because people rave about it so much. Good to know we are not alone. Will definitely check our rejuvenate.
Erika says
We got a puppy when we were living in our old apt…that grew into a 70lb dog….that loved to skid across our hardwood floors. We had lots of scratch marks everywhere. We tried rejuvenate and it made the floors look brand new. We had a friend move into the apt after us and two years later, the floors still look awesome!
Sarah Hayden says
hi – I used rejuvenate twice on my old house and loved it at first. But then the second time it started doing weird things to the floor. Like discolorations and what not. So I will be curious to know how it holds up on your floors. It could be that the second time I did it I really needed just to have them refinished and the rejuvenate wasn’t going to cut it. Congrats on the new house. We are two months in on our 1968 brick ranch with a baby on the way. I just keep saying baby steps, baby steps. I love your blog and I wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavors. Thanks for the daily inspiration and information!
~ Sarah Hayden, Charlotte, NC