Orbital floor buffer for just cleaning a laminate/engineered hardwood floor?
I have found numerous articles regarding refinishing hardwood floors using sand paper. We rent an apartment, and I don't think this would be a good idea. I was wondering, however, if I could use a (orbital?) floor buffer for just giving the floor a thorough clean/wax without any sanding. Would this even be worth it? Would I get a deeper clean? better wax? Is there any pads/cleaners/buffers anyone would recommend? We were thinking of renting a orbital buffer from home depot or lowes. Thanks! Today's flooring needs little care, especially buffing. Laminate won't take any sanding/cleaning with mechanical methods. Engineered flooring usually has a 50 year wear warranty on it due to the finish being so hard. You should have no wax on either engineered or laminate flooring. If you do, it should come off. chandler are you saying that: I shouldn't use a orbital buffer on this hardwood floor? OR I could but it wouldn't help much? This apartment building is very old, I'm not sure the flooring is 50 years-old, but it could be approaching that, hard to say. I'm just wondering if using an orbital buffer/steamer/anything to get a deeper clean would be safe (efficacious?) compared to swifter and a mop. thanks for the input Your title said laminate/engineered, so I was assuming one of the other. If the apartment is 50 years old, it is neither. Any way you could post a couple of pictures of your floor so we can see what you see? http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...your-post.html Well I bet the building has been here for 50 years, but I have no idea if the flooring has been. Either way, the the flooring is probably old enough that warranty concerns are relevant. Either way, I'm not sure if it's laminate or not, I just thought it was, but you can tell me. imgur: the simple image sharer click 'next' or 'second image' for a closeup. thanks for your help Nail/staple down, not laminate. It appears to have had a polyurethane coat placed on it, and not a very good job at that. Probably the landlord prior to your taking possession. With that said, you may possibly renew a sheen by using a random orbit floor sander with a non abrasive pad. It may take some wax cutter to get through what is down there now. In all honesty, if that is the worst part of your floor, you are not in too bad shape. It looks pretty good. All I really want to do is get a deeper clean than what you can get with a swiffer and mop-n-glow; i don't really want to refinish it. Do you think that an orbital buffer/steamer/any equipment would clean any better/deeper (in the cracks especially) ? thanks again. From what I saw in the pix, the cracks are full of polyurethane, so I don't think they will come all that clean. If you use a product, don't use steam as it can have an adverse affect on the wood causing swelling. Try the orbital buffer with a non abrasive pad with a spray on wax build up cleaner, then dry it immediately.
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