I have just finished following your instructions and redoing my wood floors.

I am exhausted.  It was an incredible job, but worth every minute because the floors are beautiful.

Having used the OOOO Steel Wool and Spectrum Walnut Oil – tried for the best, no cheap oil on my floors –  and even taking the most expensive oil route it cost less than what I spent on these floors the last time I cleaned and waxed them.

I went over the floor with a damp rag to get off the top dust.  Then, I used the OOOO steel wool, pouring walnut oil on the floor and rubbing it in with the steel wool until all of the dirt and everything else was up.  I then wiped that up with old towels (which I threw away when finished, although my neighbor is trying the same thing and she washed her old towels after using them).  I then poured more Walnut Oil on the floor and wiped it up with a clean towel – and let the floor dry.

My neighbor tried to cut corners and didn’t do this last pouring on of oil and wiping it up with a clean towel so she had a bit of a mess on her hands, because her floor dried sticky and kind of gooey so she had to start over again.  I think that probably had to do with the steel particles from the steel wool still on the floor.

I did not put the furniture and rugs back, but let the floor sit overnight.  The next day, my floor was sort of dry, but still with parts looking wet from the oil so I had to re-wipe the floor with a clean towel.   I did not use more oil, the floor just looked a bit wet and in need of something, so another wiping with a dry, clean towel to help the oil either come up or soak into the floor – and 2 days later the floor is fabulous.  The down side was having to wait two days for the floor to dry – meaning, I could only do one room at a time.  That was fine because the smell from the oil and essential oil of gardenias will be in the house forever as I go from room to room cleaning my floors.  I am exhausted so I won’t try another room for a month or two anyway.

I should note here that my neighbor did it your way by doing a small area of the room at a time.  Which means, when she messed up with the oil and it was sticky she didn’t have her entire room to redo.  She moved the furniture and rugs from only a part of the room and moved the rest of the furniture over while the floor dried.  She was also not exhausted when she finished.  It was just part of her general cleaning – which she does without fail from 10-12 daily five days a week.  I wait for the woman who cleans for me to do all of that work – but she drew the line at kneeling on the floor to do this oiling.

My neighbor is continuing a small part of a room at a time using the same walnut oil to clean and oil her furniture in that part of the room.  I don’t have the methodology and discipline to do that.  I want it all done at once.  But then her house is a lot cleaner than mine.  Don’t know how she does it, but her house is immaculate anytime of the day or night you go over there.  Mine – not so much.  I have to clean before visitors come.  Maybe one day.  And with this new way of cleaning and oiling the floors – I suspect that kind of discipline will come because my biggie was not wanting to touch or be around the normal kind of cleaning stuff that has to be bad for your health.  I was sure they made my family sick with respiratory ailments.  Could be wrong, but the mind works in strange ways.  Even being exhausted after I finished the floor in one room, I was not ‘I’ll never so this again kind of exhausted.’  The smell and feel of the entire house changed with just this one room having its floor oiled and it was exhilarating.

My question – how to I keep these floor looking good?  They look great now, but things do get dusty and dirty over time.  I can’t go through this effort many times a year.  What do you suggest?

Your original suggestion was that this happen once a year.  What do I do in the meantime?

Thanks,

By the way – I love the smell of gardenia’s so I bought essential oil of gardenia and poured a bit into the Walnut Oil bottle when I opened it and my house smells unbelievable.  You were right about the benefit of adding essential oil to the Walnut Oil.  What I especially liked was that even though it took a lot of effort crawling around on hands and knees to do this cleaning because I couldn’t think of any other way to use the OOOO steel wool and even though it took all of the wiping up and around with old towels, the smell and off gases of what I normally used on my floors is not present.  That alone was worth the effort.  I can breathe!

I didn’t look into what was in the cleaners and waxes I used on my floors and couldn’t believe I have been using something with a kerosene base.  Looking around at the stores, most of the products sold – in the cleaning and waxing line are all mostly kerosene based.  This is what I have been exposing my family to all these years.  I knew the smell was foul – I just got used to it and waited for the smells to dissipate.  Now, I don’t want these smells to dissipate, I want to enjoy the gardenia and walnut smell as long as possible.

What I really love is the way my hands looked and felt after I finished.  I didn’t have to wear rubber gloves because Walnut Oil is good for the skin.  I hadn’t thought of that as a side benefit, but I love it.

Another BTW – the woman who cleans for me has been converted.  Her mother spent her adult life cleaning for others and is now in a wheel chair.  They blame the products her mother used and she, unbeknownst to me, was looking around for something else.  After watching me and standing in the room with its new feel and smell, she decided it was better to clean the floor on hands and knees than to use what we had been using – so she has taken over the floor cleaning and oiling job – and thank goodness.  Not having to wear rubber gloves and seeing my wrinkled hands smooth out after this bit of hard work instead of drying out and feeling awful even with the rubber gloves, convinced her.

Anxiously awaiting your response!

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