The best means to wash the floor after painting and care instructions

What to wash with

After painting, the floor is washed off with warm water for a week after all layers have dried. The most suitable means for this are homemade sour kvass or ordinary vinegar.

Vinegar

To prepare the mixture to wash the floor, add no more than 1 cup of table vinegar to warm water (5 liters). After this, the product will be completely ready to wash the painted floor.

1. Sweep or vacuum the surface, removing all debris.
2. Fill a spray bottle with the prepared mixture. Spray it all over the floor.
3. Wipe the floor using a mop and cloth.
4. The final step is to wipe the floor dry with a dry cloth that absorbs water well.

Homemade sour kvass

After painting, the floor can be washed with homemade kvass. Dissolve kvass (1 l) in a bucket of hot water. It is better if it is very sour. The coating is washed with this solution several times every day for 7 days. If you treat the floor with this product, it becomes more shiny and its service life becomes longer.

Plain floors

Plain floors always look interesting and appropriate. You can paint the floor the same color as the walls. White is especially in fashion now, or white and beige are beautifully combined, mainly it gives spaciousness and comfort. Although floors painted white will go with everything, since this color goes well with everything, it is necessary to prepare the surface for painting very carefully, since this color especially shows all the unevenness. And if you cover with only one layer, you may encounter the following nuance: the paint will mix with the previous base and change its color. In this case, after everything has dried, you should cover it with another layer. But you can experiment with other colors: scarlet, coral, citrus; such bright, saturated colors look especially interesting in the bathroom or kitchen.

Washing instructions

Before washing the floor after painting it, you will need to make sure that the paint is completely dry. You can find out how long the paint chosen for painting will take to dry by reading the instructions on the jar in which it is sold. The manufacturer indicates the period of time during which one layer of paint and varnish dries. If there is no such information, in any case you cannot wash the floor earlier than after a week.

Treating the painted surface with homemade kvass or vinegar will not be enough. It needs regular cleaning and washing. And sometimes you need to rub it until it shines.

To maintain the original appearance of the floor, you must adhere to some rules:

• carry out regular wet cleaning to prevent numerous mechanical damages due to exposure to dirt, sand and dust;
• for dry cleaning with a vacuum cleaner, you need to take attachments with a brush with soft bristles; using a hard brush can cause mechanical damage and scratches;
• Do not use products with chemical components or solutions with soap, as this may cause the coating to peel off, and the paint will fade and lose its shine.

Wet cleaning of a painted floor is not a difficult or time-consuming task. Its implementation makes it easier to care for the coating in the future.

How to fix a sticky floor

When applying, remember that the paint dries faster on warm floors, but on cold floors it will thicken quickly and take a long time to dry. It is better to warm up a cold room before painting.

Also, you should not apply too thick a layer of paint at once in the hope of completing the job in one pass. The layer applied with a roller or brush should be thin. And if necessary, you can apply a second layer only after the first has dried.

To speed up the drying process of already painted floors, it will be useful to organize good air circulation. You can open all the windows and doors and create a draft.

If at this time it is damp and humid outside, then, on the contrary, you need to warm up the room: dry the air and lower the humidity so that the reaction of evaporation of the solvent from the paint goes faster. You can use a heater or a heat gun, or you can use a hair dryer. However, this must be done carefully. To avoid damaging the surface, do not bring devices close to the floor. Extreme heat can cause the paint to swell and crack, making it more difficult to fix.

Rules of care

Caring for a painted floor should not be limited to wet cleaning using vinegar or homemade kvass. You will need to regularly clean the surface from dust, wash it and gently rub it without applying any serious physical effort. Such events will be useful not only for coverage, but also for the health of the people who are in this room.

In order not to spoil the painted coating and not harm your health, you must adhere to the following rules for caring for it:

1. The use of a special emulsion that makes the floor shiny will help protect the surface and improve its appearance. Use this product by spraying a dust-free surface. After this, the emulsion is rubbed with a clean piece of cloth or using a sponge. The emulsion is applied in several layers (no more than twice during the month).
2. After washing the painted areas with a vinegar solution, you can rub it with a special product containing mastic, or use wax. When the treated coating is completely dry, a glossy film appears on it. It not only gives the floor an attractive appearance, but also additionally protects it.
3. When wet cleaning, it is allowed to use a special solution prepared by hand. To do this, add a few tablespoons of ammonia to a 10-liter bucket. If you use this mixture, the coating will have an attractive shine for a long time.
4. To clean a painted floor, you should use a vacuum cleaner to make it easier to get rid of dust in hard-to-reach places (cleaning pores and crevices).
5. It is recommended to carry out daily wet cleaning. To do this, use a regular damp cloth. You will need to pay special attention to those places where the greatest amount of dirt accumulates (under furniture).

Preparing to paint an old wooden floor

First of all, it is necessary to divide wooden flooring into two categories:

1. Plank floor.
2. Parquet.

Plank floor

Before starting work, inspect the wooden covering, replace rotten boards, pay attention to chips and cracks.
Before painting, conduct a thorough examination of the condition of the old flooring:

1. They identify various defects: chipped paint, cracks and damage to old painted floors.
2. Identify areas with loose boards that have become unusable.
3. Prepare an approximate defect list. It is used to determine the required amount of materials to repair the floor in a wooden house or other dwelling.
4. Prepare the tools necessary to carry out repair work.

To carry out restoration work you will need: a hammer, a level, nails, a scraper. You will also need a construction knife, a plane, a set of chisels and a wood saw.

Repair work consists of several stages:

• loose floorboards are dismantled;
• check the condition of the joists in the areas where the boards were removed. Wooden parts are repaired;
• install new boards;
• All cracks and chips are carefully puttied. Sludges of old paint are removed.

If the old paint was oil-based, then the new nitro paint will be rejected by the floor covering. Therefore, there are only two ways out of this situation: remove the old paint or use a dye with exactly the same chemical composition.

Parquet

Old parquet flooring is usually scraped and varnished.
Old parquet flooring used to be made from natural wood, especially oak. Painting a wooden parquet floor is unlikely to be a pleasure for anyone. This is done when absolutely necessary.

It is better to repair the old parquet, cover it with colorless varnish or another composition, without covering the textured pattern of the wood. The parquet rivets are laid, forming various patterns. The most common form of parquet is laid planks in a herringbone pattern.

Repair work to restore parquet flooring

Parquet repair work must be carried out in the following order:

1. Conduct an inspection of the condition of the parquet flooring. Draw up a defective statement.
2. Severely damaged boards are replaced with new rivets.
3. Loose planks are drilled with a thin drill in several places.
4. The drilled holes are filled with “liquid nails” type glue.
5. All cracks and holes are filled with special putty.
6. The entire surface is scraped using a machine and manual scraping.

Then the parquet is impregnated with special strengthening compounds: wax mastic or parquet varnish.

Preparing the vinegar solution correctly

Household vinegar is universal: it not only destroys odors and has disinfectant properties, but also removes greasy stains. Quickly and efficiently copes with even minor dirt and dust that appears on a freshly painted surface, especially after drying. Housewives love this method of cleaning the floor for its effect of enhancing color saturation.

The first thing you need to do before washing is to properly prepare the vinegar solution. The procedure is important, since too hot water or a high concentration of vinegar will only aggravate the matter and cause unsightly stains.

A vinegar solution for cleaning floors after painting is prepared as follows:

1. We take a standard plastic or zinc bucket with a volume of 10 liters.
2. We collect a full bucket of hot water. The most important thing when cleaning the floor is to choose the right water temperature. It should not be boiling water, but also not just warm liquid. A suitable temperature is one at which you can hold your hand in the water, but not for long - up to 5-7 seconds.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of simple vinegar to the water. It is also called household or home. Concentrated acetic acid, even if it is found in the house, cannot be used.
4. Mix thoroughly for 15–20 seconds.
5. Let's start cleaning the floor.

By exceeding the concentration of vinegar in the solution, you can first cause the enamel to lose color and subsequently peel it off. Vinegar, even household vinegar, is a very aggressive substance and should be used extremely carefully.

Ammonia can be a high-quality and inexpensive replacement for vinegar. But the proportions are different - 1 tablespoon per 6-8 liters of water is enough. Remember that a large amount of the drug in the solution will have the opposite effect.

Patterned flooring

If monotonous options or the aging method are not to your liking, then you should consider painting the floor with patterns. Here you should carefully approach the issue of choosing patterns, since not all of them are suitable for every type of interior and its color scheme.

The first option is to design the floor in the Dalmatian style. Often in photographs of interiors it is noticeable how the floor is made to imitate the coloring of a Dalmatian or other animals. For example, leopard or tiger prints are often used for this.

But there is one small difference between them - the Dalmatian is always relevant and such a solution can be used in a much larger number of rooms. It is made in black and white colors, so it is not difficult to combine other decorative elements with it.

The next way to creatively paint a floor is to use stripes. It is most suitable for floors presented in the form of long planks, but with other types of masonry it looks rather strange.

The main feature of the stripes is their chic and elegant appearance. Often, a similar technique is used in Scandinavian interior design in the kitchen, done in a soft mint color scheme.

Like many other interior design techniques, striped flooring affects the feel of a room. With the correct selection of paint that matches the rest of the design, it should visually lengthen it and expand the room.

Another fashionable trend today is the creation of an Ombre effect. This style is applicable in different parts of the interior, including the floor, although most often it can be seen on the surface of walls or furniture.

How to make a NEW OUT OF AN OLD FLOOR (1 video)

How to wash the floor with vinegar without consequences?

The vinegar solution is ready: the water is at the required temperature, and the amount of vinegar does not exceed two tablespoons. You can start cleaning the floor.

The sequence of proper floor cleaning with vinegar solution:

1. Soak a soft cloth in the solution and wring it out well. Remember: too wet rags will cause new stains or permanent fading of the enamel. Therefore, the rag for washing the floor should be damp, but not wet.
2. After carefully washing no more than 3 m2 of floor, you need to change the solution to fresh one. And so on until the entire freshly painted surface is washed.
3. Under no circumstances should you re-rinse an already clean surface. It's better to do this in a few days. Rubbing the surface is also not recommended, because vinegar, even in low concentration, remains too active a substance that can break down some paints and varnishes.
4. After the area has been treated with a vinegar solution, you should carefully wipe the floor with a cloth soaked in clean water, without adding any detergents.

It is better to use soft rags for cleaning floors and replace them after several procedures. Dirty rags with small or large debris will be the first cause of scuffs and scratches on a newly painted floor.

When can you start cleaning the floor?

The floor is painted and shiny with fresh enamel, floor paint or varnish. The question arises: when can you start washing? Answer: not immediately and not even after 2-3 days.

• First, the enamel should be given time to dry thoroughly.
• Secondly, the coloring composition must be absorbed into the wood. This process is lengthy - even with proper air circulation and constant room temperature, it takes at least two weeks.

Some home craftsmen make a mistake: after a few days they try the painted floor by touch and, if the enamel or paint does not stick to the hand, then immediately start washing it. It is not right. The topmost layer dries very quickly, within a day it feels like you can walk on the floor. But the lower layers will take time, sometimes a lot of time. Therefore, remember: you can wash the painted floor no earlier than after 1.5–2 weeks.

Painting

Use seam brushes to paint the floor.
Painting a wooden floor requires the fulfillment of certain conditions:

1. They begin to paint the floor after the primer has completely dried.
2. It is necessary to prepare the following tools: folding brushes, short-pile rollers, a tray for drawing and squeezing paint.
3. It is advisable to purchase paint from well-known manufacturers.
4. Paint is selected taking into account the structure and type of wood.
5. In rooms with intense mechanical load, paint with a high wear resistance is chosen.
6. In rooms with high humidity, it is preferable to use acrylic or oil paints.

Wood floor painting technology

How to paint the floor so that the surface of the wooden covering is even and smooth? It is necessary to stock up on an additional set of replacement rollers. The roller should not be foam rubber or have too long a pile. Short bristles distribute the paint evenly over the wooden surface. At the same time, the roller does not absorb excess paint and does not form sagging on the floor. For more information on how to paint a floor, watch this video:

The scheme for how to paint a floor is quite simple. Painting begins from the opposite side to the entrance to the room.

Putting a plastic bag over the tray will help keep the dispensing container clean. The roller is dipped into the paint, and then the excess dye is squeezed out onto the sloping surface of the tray.

When painting large areas, the dried roller is replaced in a holder with a new cylinder within a few days. The old roller is immersed in a container with solvent.

To avoid additional inconvenience when painting the floor, first paint hard-to-reach areas of the flooring with a seam brush. Then begin painting the main area of ​​the wooden floor.

Why wash the floor after painting?

The new coatings are completely clean and shiny. It seems that cleaning them is completely unnecessary. This is true for most varnishes and other products used to coat indoor surfaces: they do not require additional processing.

Floors painted with oil dyes must go through the preparation stage for use. These environmentally friendly materials are made from natural ingredients. They do not have a suffocating odor and are pleasant to work with. They last up to 5-7 years and have a low cost.

But oil paints have one significant drawback: they take a very long time to dry, some require 5 to 7 days to dry completely, for this reason they are rarely used now.

The main component of oil paints is drying oil; it is usually made on the basis of natural oils, with the addition of pigments. Also, artificially synthesized ingredients or combinations thereof can be used in production. Therefore, after drying, a thin greasy layer appears on the surface. This is what needs to be removed. This action will prevent feet and other objects from sticking to the floor, will give the surface an attractive, shiny appearance, facilitate further maintenance and extend its service life.

Slightly acidic solutions of vinegar or homemade kvass added to warm water will help clean floors from the oil layer.

Do not wash a painted floor for the first time using detergents or soda. These components will destroy the surface layer of fresh paint, it will fade and may even begin to peel off.

Choosing paint for a wooden floor

How to paint a wooden floor? When visiting hardware stores, people are sometimes overwhelmed by the wide range of dyes available.

Each type of paint has its own advantages and disadvantages, which we tried to reflect in this table:

Oil paint

Oil paint today is used mainly to renew old painted floors. Oil paint is diluted with natural drying oil. The painted surface is not afraid of moisture and resists mechanical stress. The dye is absolutely non-toxic.

Acrylic paint

Acrylic-based dye is advantageous in that ordinary water is used as a solvent.

However, in rooms with intense mechanical loads (active walking), the painted surface wears out quickly.

Nitro enamels

Nitro enamels are attractive because they dry almost instantly. However, when burned, they release substances hazardous to human health. For more information on how to paint, watch this video:

Lucky

Varnish coating extends the life of wood.
Varnishes are mainly used to coat parquet flooring.

Parquet coated with varnish takes on a beautiful appearance.

The varnish emphasizes the structure of the wood and is resistant to high indoor humidity.

This floor is easy to use. Easily withstands wet cleaning.

When performing paint and varnish work, it is necessary to use personal protective equipment for the respiratory and visual organs. Vapors from varnish can ignite from any spark.

Why do floors stick?

Oil paint has a viscous consistency and, when painted, lays down in a voluminous layer. The slow curing process then begins. The top layers dry first, then the middle layers and finally the deep layers. The painted surface will stick until all the paint has completely hardened.

Working with the material requires compliance with certain conditions. If you start walking or placing furniture in a renovated room ahead of time, everything that touches the new coating will stick to the fresh paint. As a result, the floor will receive damage and scratches, which will be difficult to eliminate without repainting.

To prevent this from happening, you need to:

• Use paint with valid expiration dates, they are always indicated on the can.
• Follow the instructions for diluting the contents of the paint can and applying it.
• Before work, thoroughly stir the composition in the container, be sure to check if there are any thick components at the bottom.
• The surface intended for painting should be cleaned, dried, degreased and primed.
• Make sure the paint has been stored in proper conditions. It is difficult to verify this, but we must try. When oil paint freezes, it delaminates and loses its properties.

Preparing new wood floors for painting

Before painting, the wood is coated with a primer.
New wooden flooring, before the floor is painted, undergoes the following preparatory work:

1. The floor is finally scraped, bringing the surface of wooden floors to maximum smoothness.
2. All cracks are carefully puttied.
3. The wood is coated with special primers. When deciding how to paint the floors in a wooden house or other building, choose a primer that is chemically compatible with the paint.

Before painting the floor in a wooden house with ordinary oil paint, the entire surface is impregnated with natural drying oil or a special primer.

After this, they move on to painting work.

Cleaning products for freshly painted floors

Before washing the wood surface after painting, you need to wait until the paint has completely dried. Then use table vinegar mixed with water for cleaning.

The instructions are very simple:

1. Fill a clean bucket with almost hot water and add 1-2 tbsp. l. vinegar.
2. Wash the floor with a clean, or better yet, new, soft cloth, using the prepared solution.
3. Change the acidic solution in the bucket and repeat the procedure.

Then, for another 7 days in a row, wipe the floors with a damp cloth soaked in a mixture of water and vinegar to remove the oil that will continue to bleed from the inner layers of paint for some time.

Folk remedies for washing

Freshly painted wooden floors are washed for the first time with water with the addition of regular homemade kvass. The solution is prepared as follows: add 1 liter of kvass to a bucket of hot water. The more sour it is, the better. The floor is washed with this mixture several times, every day for a week. According to popular opinion, the first treatment with kvass is preferable; the surface is more shiny and lasts longer.

Washing floors with acidic compounds is the final stage of preparation for use. But regular care must be carried out constantly.

Which paint to choose?

A very important point in the case of laminate floors is that floors painted with oil paints or those that are water-based are not suitable for this material. You can use polyurethane paints and alkyd enamels.

As for choosing paint for a wooden floor, you should approach each case individually. But the highest quality and most comfortable to use include polyurethane, acrylic and alkyd paints.

Routine care for painted floors

During operation, a painted floor requires constant attention. In order for the flooring to serve for a long time, it is imperative:

• When coming from the street, change into soft slippers: this will give your feet freedom and will not allow dirt from the street to get into the living space.
• Carry out daily wet cleaning, paying attention to hard-to-reach places under bedside tables, beds or sofas.
• When cleaning floors, add a few tablespoons of ammonia to a bucket of water. This will disinfect the surface and prolong its shine.
• From time to time, it is recommended to use a vacuum cleaner to remove dust from pores and crevices.

Sometimes, despite following all the rules and regular cleaning, paint continues to stick. This may be due to poor quality material or violation of coloring rules. You can try to eliminate the unpleasant effect by using dishwashing detergent.

If nothing helps remove the sticky layer from freshly painted wooden surfaces, you can coat them with special products.

Painting with stripes

Another interesting and simple option, and you can add a little creativity to it:

• stripes go along the edge or in the center of the room, moving from the room to the corridor;
• they can be both smooth (a perfectionist’s dream) and curved (for those who are not afraid of chaos);
• you can alternate them by shade and size (from thin to wide and vice versa).

Don't be afraid to experiment. Even if you don’t like the result, you can remove the old layer of paint at any time and try again.