How To Bring A Beautiful Wood Floor Back To Life

I have always been captivated by timber floors. Growing up, I lived on a farm in a house with stunning blackbutt floors. The farmhouse was over 100 years old and was full of character and warmth. That home was the inspiration for me investing in blackbutt timber floors in my own home as an adult.

Wood floors are gorgeous, but they start to get worn and dull over time.

Over the years our Electrodry team has been asked by plenty of customers if they could help restore their wood floors. Seeing a need in the market, our team spent two years developing a cleaning and restoration system for wood floors. I was lucky enough to spend a few days on the road with resident timber expert, James “Hollywood” Robbins. His nom de guerre comes from the fact he's the face of Electrodry's brochures and campaigns.

On The Road With James Robbins

Danielle and her partner Rod were looking to sell their house. The kids had all moved out, so they wanted something smaller and more manageable for the two of them. The real estate market was hot, so they were looking to cash in and move a step closer to retirement.

Their timber floors don’t look too bad but they were a bit dull and scratched in traffic areas, especially under the dining table. James had me helping out on the job and gave me the job of vacuuming and then working the Deep Clean machine. I was astounded by how much dirt was coming out of the supposedly “clean” floors. I was also intrigued by how much smoother the floor was where we'd used the machine. When I ran my hand over an area we had just cleaned, it was super smooth, compared with the sandpaper-like feel of the uncleaned floor. After the cleaning was finished we applied the Timber Refresh solution. I asked James how the Timber Refresh solution works.

The Timber Refresh Solution

The dull and worn areas on a floor develop because as we walk on the floor, the dirt beneath out feet causes small scratches and abrasions. These micro-scratches stop light reflecting off the floor, causing the floor to look dull. The same thing happens when strong cleaning products are used on a floor and soften the finish.

Timber Refresh is a thin coating that fills in these micro-scratches, allowing light to reflect off the floor like it did when the floor was new, giving the floor back its natural sheen.

James was extremely careful and methodical when applying the coating. Once he finished the floor, it looked really glossy. I was actually taken about by how shiny it was. I said this to James, and he suggested we go get lunch, and come back once the finish had dried.

OMG!!! We came back after lunch, the floor was dried. It looked amazing! It had lost its excessive shine from the wetness and instead looked like the shine of glossy new timber. It was almost impossible to find the worn, dull areas. Even the scratches around the dining table looked much better! It wasn’t quite a new floor but it looked pretty close!

Rod and Danielle were over the moon and couldn’t wait to show their mates what an amazing difference the Timber Restore service made.

On a separate note, if your floors are more heavily worn – don’t stress. Electrodry now has a sandless refinishing system for worn floors. The job is done in a day, ready to walk on that night, and avoids the cost and inconvenience of sanding.