In the middle of the picture you see the color I stained the handsome white oak in a Neil Reid home back in the 1980s. The muddy look around the lighter wood is how poorly the acrylic waxes buildup has aged.
If you or your cleaning service use acrylic waxes, get ready for a generous (and expensive) dose of tough love. Acrylics can take a handsome wood floor and make it look as if it has pond scum on it. Let me show you the risk and dark side of this faux wood floor cosmetic product.
As someone who has seen thousands of wood floors over the last 50 years, I feel uniquely qualified to share some observations about how homeowners’ best intentions can turn into disasters. At the top of this list is the long-term effect of using acrylic products to enhance the look of a residential wood floor as they age. I often describe acrylic waxes as being cosmetic and remind people if you put on makeup and don’t take it off, you will have problems. Let me elaborate.
As wood floors age it’s not unusual for the finish to start losing its luster from simple use. You can develop wear patterns in high traffic areas such as kitchens, family rooms, entrances and so on. In an attempt to freshen up the look of their floors, homeowners, and sometimes their cleaning services, fall prey to the marketing claims of acrylic waxes. The typical hype that comes with acrylic products is they “restore lost luster, add protection and shine and eliminate smudges.” They are found at hardware stores, building supply houses, super markets and online. Some of the most popular names are Quick Shine, Orange Glow, Rejuvenate, Lundmark’s Acrylic Wax, Bona Kemi Floor Polish and Mop & Glo to name a few.
Acrylic products are used all the time on many hard surfaces like terrazzo, marble, vinyl, hard tiles and concrete with good results but they are always removed and not allowed to build up and therein lies the problem when they are used on wood floors. For whatever reason, when the last application of acrylics starts looking bad on the wood floor, the impulse is to put down more. And more. And more. As the build-up increases homeowners learn a painful lesson: heavy accumulations of acrylic waxes don’t look good and do not age well. Aside from creating an unnaturally high build look they often discolor, easily abrade, scratch, delaminate, look muddy and in general make a nice wood floor look cheap and lousy. This is not an “ugly” you will easily hide, my friend, and it’s becoming a common sight in many very nice homes. Hence, my analogy of acrylics being comparable to layering makeup on your face and then not taking it off. Cosmetic products don’t look good when they’re being misused.
Here are a few photos to back up my comments and a request that if you or your cleaning service are using acrylic products, please stop. They may help initially but time will not be kind to your floors if you continue. The greater challenge is what the heck do you do to address this eye sore? I will be making a video on this subject to discuss it in more depth. Visit my Rosebud Company YouTube channel to see it and other videos I’ve put together that you may find helpful. I also have lots of additional information at rosebudfloors.com and on Facebook.