The portion on the right is dry and has been wiped down. The portion straight ahead I did this morning and the oil is soaking in and drying. Obviously the dull part on the left is the floor before I refinished it. I love this!
Question from Judy
Hi Debra,
Here is a natural way to refinish very old floors where much of the finish has worn off. We are doing it and I think it’s going to be great! Thought you would like it.
- Sweep floors
- Any greasy stains? Use WHITE VINEGAR. Scrub the stains in a circular motion with a sponge. Use the scrubbing side, but make sure you buy the ones that have the non-scratch scrubbing side. Let the vinegar dry. If stain is still visible, do it one more time. Let dry.
- Scrub the same stains with Dawn and hot water – in a circular motion. then with the grain. Let dry.
- Mop entire floor – we used Murphy’s Oil Soap and water. Let dry.
- With the soft side of a sponge, spread olive oil over entire floor. Let dry. This could take up to 24 hours. Then take a clean towel and wipe over entire floor (vigorously).
That’s it.
On one of our floors, I let the oil stay on for only about 6 hours, then used the towel, because we needed use of that floor! It still looks fine. We did all of this in December, and the floors still look great!
DON”T SLIP! FLOORS ARE VERY SLIPPERY UNTIL AFTER THE TOWEL IS USED!!!!
I’m doing it a little bit at a time, and there’s no lines where you stop and no smell, and it looks fabulous!
I found out about this because I’ve been wanting to refinish my floors but it was too expensive and I didn’t want the chemicals in my house. Then I went to the home of a friend for dinner who lives in an old house and her floors looked fabulous! I asked her what she did and she gave me the information. And now I’m doing mine and they look great too.
I’m so excited! I can’t wait to do the whole house.
Debra’s Answer
This sounds great. I need this for my floors too! I’m going to try it.
I wonder if refined coconut oil would work? It has a very long shelf life and doesn’t go rancid nearly as fast as Olive Oil.
Also, can I assume that I can use a substitute for Dawn since the smell really bothers me? I always wonder why all the home recipes for various products call for Dawn. Is it just because it is cheap or is there something in it that everyone seems to like?
I don’t know if refined coconut oil would work but you could try it in a small area first and see. Yes, you can use something other than Dawn. I think Dawn is becoming a generic term for dishwashing liquid like Kleenex is a generic term for tissue.
I agree that olive oil will go rancid. That’s why it’s not recommended for cutting boards either. I can’t imagine how the floor will smell in a few months.
OK I found out the friend’s floors were refinished a couple of months ago and the writer of this post did not smell any rancidity when she visited last week.
This might work for me except Murphys Oil Soap makes me very ill. The smell is so strong. Is there another product to use at that step?
I agree about Murphy’s Oil Soap. I think you can use any liquid soap. If you try another soap, write and let us know the result.
Olive oil does take longer to turn rancid than some other oils, but it will eventually get rancid.
Hmmm, I wonder if it will in this application because there is very little left by the time it is rubbed off. I know this hasn’t been a problem for my reader’s friend who did this method, but maybe it hasn’t been long enough.
Olive oil turns rancid! I wouldn’t put that on my floor. A different oil may work, but it has to be stable.