Our home is a 1972 split-level house with an oak staircase and landing. Regardless whether you enter through the upper front door or the lower level door, you have to walk across this landing. And with two rescued dogs – Jasper and Daisy – coming and going as well, it wasn’t long before the finish on our oak landing was looking pretty worn. If you would like to follow along as I revive this worn out finish, you can read more about it here.
As you can see, the majority of the worn finish on my landing is still intact. Rather than sanding and refinishing it, however, I can easily restore it using Minwax® Hardwood Floor Reviver — a water-based floor finish that refreshes hardwood floors that are worn, scratched or dull.
The first thing I needed to do was to sweep up any loose grit and dirt. Any fine grit turns the bottom of our shoes into sanding pads, which is why it is always a good idea to use doormats. Just to make sure I wasn’t tracking more dirt onto the landing, I slipped off my shoes before I got started.
Sweeping alone isn’t going to clean the finish on my landing, so I followed with a damp mop and a bottle of Minwax® Hardwood Floor Cleaner. This is a non-toxic, biodegradable formula that helps you maintain the natural beauty of any hardwood, pre-finished and laminate flooring. Regular use will keep your floors looking beautiful by gently removing dirt and grime, without leaving a soap film behind.
Once the landing had dried, I reached for my squeeze bottle of Minwax® Hardwood Floor Reviver.
Don’t let the milky appearance of the Hardwood Floor Reviver surprise you. The milky color and low odor are reminders that this is a water-based finish. I generally only work about a three-foot square area at a time, using a clean, damp painter’s pad or synthetic applicator attached to a long handle to spread Reviver across the floor. 
If you look closely, you can see how the Hardwood Floor Reviver is adding both additional sheen and protection to the floor. The wide foam pad makes it easy to apply a thin, even coat. Just like when you are brushing on a finish, you want to spread the Reviver going only in the direction of the grain of the wood. This will avoid having your pad leave any streaks in the dried finish.
And speaking of drying, since Minwax® Hardwood Floor Reviver is water-based, it dries very quickly. Naturally, temperature and humidity will affect the drying time, but I always wait at least two hours before walking lightly on the floor. And to be safe, I keep the rugs, furniture, Jasper and Daisy off it for 24 hours after application.
As you can see, it is a fast and easy way to restore your worn floors without stripping or sanding.
Until next time,
Thanks for stopping by!
Bruce
PS – Be sure to check out the Minwax® Facebook page for even more tips on wood staining and finishing!
Hi there, this looks great! In the picture with your two dogs, their paws are on that piece of wood that separates the outdoors from the indoors. (I’m not sure of the name.) Mine is worn as well and I’m looking to refinish it. What product do you suggest for this task?
Thanks!
Amanda
Amanda – I am posting a blog on August 5th that shows how to refinish the exterior threshold using Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane. Look for it then, okay? Thanks – Bruce
We have 2 huge rotriellers @ 150 lbs. And of course same damage on a Brazillian
Cherry wood floor. Cannot find your product anywhere in the Medford Oregon area.
Help, yours is the only cleaner Ian my husband will use. Can I order it on line?
Hi Sandy, Minwax products can be found in all of the major home improvement stores and sometimes the Hardwood Floor Cleaner is stocked in the housewares section rather than the paint department. Good luck in your search.
Do you think this would work on wood cabinets? Our kitchen and utility room cabinets need help. They are not bad but starting to wear in places, if you have any ideas i would be so helpful
Thank you
For kitchen cabinet “facelifts” I typically clean them first with Minwax Wood Cabinet Cleaner then follow with a coat of Wipe-On Poly, the oil-based version to bring them back to life and give them more protection. Good luck with the project!
I SEEN WHERE YOU TOLD SOMEONE ABOUT THE CABINETS. WHAT IF THE STAIN IS COMING OFF? WHAT DO YOU DO ? THE SAME THING?
The sign of excessive wear on a floor, Maureen, will be when our feet have worn through both the clear finish and the stain in the wood. To me this indicates it is time for a total refinishing, but if that is not possible for you right now then you can take a cloth and a Minwax Wood Finish stain and try to blend in the parts where the stain is missing. It takes some experimenting to get the color matched perfectly, but if you take your time you can replace the missing color, then top coat it after it is dry. Good luck with your project!
ON THE HARD WOOD FLOORS. THIS WILL DO AS WELL IF YOU HAVE SCRATCH MARKS AND SOME OF THE STAIN IS GONE ON YOU FLOOR. MY NEEDS TO BE DONE BUT DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO SAND AND THEN REFINISH . THANKS
I used reviver on my oak floors and they look amazing but i have some streaks. Can I put a second coat of reviver on my floors to cover the streaks?
Thanks
Sam
Definitely, yes, Sam! Also, make sure your applicator is in good condition, as a worn out sponge head will leave an uneven coat. Thanks for reading and good luck with your projects.
While I’m waiting to test out Reviver on my cork floors .. I have to tell you all this is the worst packaging I’ve encountered in a long while. After 45 mins with an exacto knife and tweezers .. I gave up on the ‘Peel Here’ theory to get to the full instructions on the bottle. When I did get the two layer to seperate .. the text was unreadable because the layers had adhered to each other. I have high hopes for the product .. but one should not have to consult the website to get full instructions. I’ll let you know how it works on my cork!
Sorry to hear the problem you had, Janet, with getting the pages to separate and we certainly will pass that along to the people in charge of packaging. Am glad, however, that you realized you could get the same instructions at Minwax.com and thank you for doing so. Good luck with your floors. -Bruce