I got a call last Wednesday for
an estimate to do a finish repair. I
have not been out to look at the project
yet, but wanted to get some
other opinions before I do.

Here are the details as described by the
home owner:

Her mother-in-law came into town for Christmas and wanted to do
something nice for the family. Her choice of good deed was to clean the
entire hardwood floor for the family. A good deed indeed, however, an
“Orange Glow” cleaner from the local $
store was utilized, and needless
to say, the homeowner is now very upset
with a nasty haze all over the
floor. The floor is less than a year old
and she wants it to look like
it did before the good deed. The home owner has advised me that she has
attempted to clean with Vinegar and water
with little success.

Now to my question… I would like to know
how some of you might
approach this project with the limited knowledge as stated above and
secondly, do any of you have any
personal experiences with contamination
that you might be willing to share with
me that I can also share with my
client? Personally, I am leaning towards
an S&R rather than a “prep”
approach. After all, she has stated she
wants it to look like it did
before. Thanks for any help on this and
I hope everyone has a profitable

The old "pre-Bona"
Orange Glo products used an orange/citrus oil base.
Here is what we recommended for any oil contamination.

Wet clean the floor with mineral spirits / paint thinner. Make sure to
ventilate and extinguish any pilot lights. Charcoal filtered face masks
for workers are recommended. Dry white cotton rags work well, and you
should see a visible yellow residue on the rags (oil residue). Wipe from
the clean area into the contaminated area, refolding the rags to wipe
with a clean face, and changing rags frequently.

Let dry, and clean a second time with a good water based surfactant
cleaner (like Bona / Basic cleaners). Repeat water cleaning until no
color transfers to the white cotton rags.

If the floor is tight with no open cracks filled with reservoirs of oil,
you may have restored the original appearance and gloss.

If this procedure doesn't remove all dulling film, you have greatly
increased the likelihood of a recoat succeeding by removing most of the
contaminant. If the floor is "open" with lots of cracks filled with
contaminant, it may require a resand and refinish.

The above is what I saved from a wood floor trade discussion forum. It has been handy to use on a few occasions. Hope it will help.

I believe Home Depot has Squarbuff sanders for rent. The Squarbuff was designed as a floor scrubber, but found some use as a sander. I have used mine to scrub floors. Think of it as an overgrown oscillating sander. It is very easy to control. You would want to use the right scrubbing pad, which is either the black one (rough) or the red one (medium). The white one is a polishing pad. Do not use the maroon pad, as that is used primarily to prepare wood flooring for new coats of finish...it will abrade most any finish.

That's all I got.

Thank you for your responses. My situation is that the Orange Glo is removed with straight ammonia and hard scrubbing, leaving the floor in beautiful new condition. I am not, however, physically able to hand scrub 400 sq. ft. It's become so ridiculous. I purchased a Hoover Floormate SpinScrub online yesterday, $109 w/ free shipping on eBay and am awaiting it's arrival. I will check back in to share results when completed.

Great. The Hoover ought to help you do it.

Be very careful using ammonia to remove the polish on your wood floor. You'd be wise to look into purchasing a non-ammoniated wax stripper product. Used properly, it will do most of the work.

I have tried several products including Trewax wax remover for wood floors and it did not work. Orange Glo creates more of a gunky coating than wax. So I believe no one has really created a product to easily remove that type of build-up. The ammonia works beautifully, but with vigorous scrubbing. The spots that I did do by hand are perfectly clean and shiny without any harm to the original finish. I was hoping to find an easier way and am hoping the Hoover Floormate SpinScrub will do the trick. Still awaiting it's arrival.

http://www.angieslist.com/articles/how-clean-and-maintain-hardwood-floors.htm

http://woodfloordoctor.com/_product_reviews/articles/cleaning_wood_floors_with_ammonia_based_glass_cleaner_windex.shtml

http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-Not-to-Clean-Hardwood-Floors-/10000000177940911/g.html

http://www.professorshouse.com/your-home/cleaning/carpets-floors/articles/washing-hardwood-floors/ paragraph 10

I FINALLY FOUND A WAY TO REMOVE ORANGE GLO BUILD-UP!!

After hours, days and weeks of research and experimentation, I have found a solution to this nightmare!! Soft Scrub with Bleach. I did a small spot and with little effort, my floor is like new. Dampenfloor, apply Soft Scrub, rub gently, rinse twice, then dry. I am still awaiting the Hoover Floormate SpinScrub that I purchased on eBay for $109, no tax and FREE SHIPPING (best price I found for brand new), so I can imagine it will be easier than expected. I will share results in a few days when complete.

Please do. mvadeli. Be sure you don't much too much water on your floor in this cleaning process.

OrangeGlo has been such a trouble maker for wood floor owners. It should be banned completely to be used on wood floor, laminate floor, bamboo floor, and cork floor, etc.

I agree, but I don't foresee that happening. There should be a class action lawsuit, but I wouldn't know how to begin that process. Right now, I'm just concerned about my own floor and will be happy to share the results with others free of charge, not like some silly e-book reveling secret methods for $4.95 or something.

I would tell people now to experiment for themselves like I did. Three rags, two of them damp, one dry. Dampen small spot with first rag. Apply Soft Scrub and gently wipe up and down in direction with floor planks using same rag. Use damp rag #2 to rinse, then flip rag over using a clean side for a second rinse. Use dry rag #3 to absorb moisture and polish. It looks and feels fabulous without any residue from neither the Soft Scrub nor the Orange Glo.

Okay, Hoover Floormate SpinScrub is a wonderful machine for everyday cleaning, BUT NOT FOR THIS NIGHTMARE. I did, however get the one room done in the following manner....

Vacuum

Use STRAIGHT ammonia in a spray bottle and spray liberally on to small section and let sit for a few minutes.

I then used an O'Cedar swiffer type micro-fiber mop, also filled with straight ammonia and it removed the build up fairly easily.

WARNING: Have plenty of paper towels handy to wipe up globs of the actual build Up

Then I used a Bissel steamer vacuum to remove residual build-up and ammonia.

Last step, Bruce hardwood floor cleaner.

I am exhausted, but it worked..

After thinking of an easier way, I came up with an idea I am going to do for the dining room. A small industrial pump sprayer to evenly distribute the ammonia. This will save time instead of a spray bottle. Then as the globs of build-up are removed, I am going to use a small wet-vac that I have to suck it right up, instead of wiping it up with paper towels. This will also help in getting it out of the cracks. Then the rest I would do the same. Steam mop vacuum, then Bruce Hardwood Floor Cleaner with a micro-fiber mop. Please, if anyone tries this, let me know if it worked for you too.

Fantastic. Way to stay after it. Thanks for sharing too.

mvadeli....I thought you said the soft srcub worked? it would be less harmful to your lungs than the ammonia???? I am about to delve into this exact project....

Thank you sooooooo much for posting this. Not sure if you still use this account but I have been pulling my hair out trying to get the nasty Orange Glo off my beautiful tigerwood floor for years without having to pay a fortune!