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Does Floor Wax smell?

5 months ago

Does floor wax smell? Does the smell last for days? My wood floor needs wax (or something else you recommend). Should I wait until summer when I can open the windows? Or is it not a problem? I mean, is it like paint -- a noxious smell that lingers --- or like bathroom cleaner --- less than pleasant, but disappears quickly?

Comments (10)

  • 5 months ago

    Wood floors should not be waxed. Sweep and vacuum. Damp (NOT wet) mop with water. That’s all your floor should need, unless it is due for professional refinishing.

  • PRO
    5 months ago

    Wax is a 1930’s thing. It ruins modern no wax floors.

  • PRO
    5 months ago

    Wax is like lipstick. It wears off in no time. It's not that wood floors can't be waxed but it's no longer a typical finish for floors because it has no longevity.


    What is the current finish on your wood floor? You don't want apply something that will disolve or ruin what currently protects your floor.


  • 5 months ago

    I have no idea what was on my cherry floors, except it looks mostly gone. We bought the house 15 years ago, the guy we bought it from was divorced. I can't imagine he did anything to the floors, so at best, they were last treated 20-25 years ago, possibly well before that.

  • PRO
    5 months ago

    You probably need to have them refinished. Wax creates adhesion issues with a new finish and makes it a problem.

  • 5 months ago

    Our wooden floors needed a thorough renovation and we got a few options presented by the people doing it, showing us different finishes on a small sample. Oiling and two types of lacquer. We liked a semi-matte acrylic lacquer the most (not sure if these are the proper terms, I'm translating it from my language).


    Bigger issue might be that it needed a few days to dry (no stepping on it, and no opening windows to keep the temperature somewhat stable), and then he recommended up to a month without heavy furniture on it so it could properly settle. Since we don't live there yet, that wasn't a problem, but might be trickier in your case.

  • 5 months ago

    I'll second the advice to consult a local finisher. Perhaps you do have old sealed and waxed flooring, making cleaning and waxing the perfect way to make them look better. If so, a heavy buffer is ideal for getting the best sheen, so perhaps you can hire the finisher to do it right (assuming they have experience of an old-school finish type). Be warned that freshly waxed floors are slippery. Wax works like grease in a bearing.

    Or maybe your floors are of a type that shouldn't be waxed. There are polishes one can apply to a worn floor, but most (if not all) of them are junk.

  • 5 months ago
    last modified: 5 months ago

    We had one of these (link) when I was a kid (in the 1960s). My mother used it on our 1910s–20s-era parquet floors. I was fascinated by that machine, and disappointed that I wasn't allowed to use it. Some decades later, my mother had the floor stripped and refinished. The polisher/buffer is long one. No more wax on, wax off!

  • 5 months ago

    To answer the original question, it depends on the wax. Paste wax has a small amount of solvent, usually mineral spirits or turpentine. It dissipates quite quickly, but it's probably best to use when the weather is mild and one can open the house up.

    Acrylic waxes, the type you shouldn't use on a wood floor, have a very slight smell for a short time.