Hardwood, Not Hard Work

As an alternative to polyurethane, Lynn likes a tung oil finish. "Tung oil has been around since the 1400s and will give the look of a waxed floor," he said. "It has a patina to it without the plastic." Clean with products designed for oiled floors, and re-coat with tung oil if the surface loses its sheen.

Capen frequently suggests a polymerized tung oil finish from Sutherland Welles. "They boil it, I think, and it becomes magic," she said. "You put it on, immediately go over it with a buffer, and in 12 hours, it's dry. It makes a beautiful finish -- the hot-shot people in the Hamptons are using it."

A higher gloss is trickier to find.

Although Cajou's waxing routine is effective -- Kelly's floors shine like satin -- doing it every two weeks is excessive.

Waxing need not be such an onerous task, Lynn said. When properly applied, wax can "bring a floor back to life . . . for a lot less money than sanding and refinishing a floor. And it will outlast any finish." Also, a well-waxed floor is not slippery in the least, despite what some people think.

Lynn suggests a thorough cleaning with a solvent such as Varsol, mineral spirits or paint thinner and No. 2 steel wool, followed by a light application of wax. "Some people over-wax, and you can write your name with your toe. I've taken wax away from people," said Lynn, whose showroom floor has a waxed finish.

Tinted carnauba wax, which Universal sells, hides a multitude of sins. So does shoe polish. "We've used it for years to touch up a floor. We've even done large areas," Lynn said. "It will put a shine on a floor that you wouldn't believe -- if you want to achieve that."

When the wax is down, buff. "You don't have to rent a buffer; polish it out with a small auto buffer," he said.

Upkeep consists of sweeping, buffing, and an occasional light smear of wax in high-traffic areas -- not under the dining table where few ever step. If there are scratches, he recommends Zenith Tibet Stick, which wipes them out, he said, "quick as a wink."

Even many damaged floors that appear beyond repair can be patched and polished to a fine antique appearance, Lynn said. Universal has a trove of salvaged, re-milled boards. Bring him a board, and he'll find its match.

He said the company is currently repairing 1930s floors in the Supreme Court using wood from a 1930s house.

Ed Copenhaver, co-owner of Frager's Hardware on Capitol Hill, recalled: "When I was growing up, twice a year you waxed with Johnson paste wax. In spring, you'd put down the summer rugs; in fall, you'd put down the winter rugs."

Lined up on the shelves at Frager's are traditional paste waxes, including cans of Johnson and bowling alley wax, and several tinted varieties such as Butcher's Boston Polish, which leaves an amber cast, and Trewax Indian Sand, which has a slight yellow tint.

Sent in search of a quicker fix, Copenhaver trots down the long aisle and picks up a bottle of Johnson One Step No Buff Wax, scanning the directions. "It has its own solvent and claims to do it all," he said, adding with a shake of his head, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

The product directs you to wash the floor with it and then reapply, letting the second coat dry to a shine. Cleaning with Varsol or a similar solvent would be cheaper, Copenhaver suspects, because the wax costs about $9 for 22 ounces. Calls to Johnson were not returned.

Despite the breezy directions, no-buff wood floor finishes require thorough, messy, back-aching preparation. Skimp on that first cleaning, and floors will often dry to a dull, sometimes streaky, haze.

Copenhaver cautions against taking a shortcut and mopping on an acrylic polish, such as Future. While acrylics do give a brilliant shine on wood floors -- with ease -- they require a water-based solvent to remove, which raises the wood's grain. But, he added, "it's done all the time -- as long as you don't need to take it off, it probably makes no difference." Just mop on more when the floor gets dull.

As with Future, the makers of On An' On, an acrylic no-buff finish made for vinyl, terrazzo and polished ceramic floors, caution against use on wood floors. That people use it anyway comes as no surprise to Becky Kaufold, a formulating chemist for the manufacturer, Spartan Chemical.

"It's a workhorse product with great gloss and great durability. It's been used on wood floors, and they swear by it, but it's generally not something we recommend," she said.

Among other things, water-based acrylic products act like an adhesive; they don't allow for wood's natural expansion and contraction, or the absorption and release of humidity.

"They glue the boards together," Kaufold said. "They start moving as a panel, a unity. When you walk on a floor and see half-inch gaps and then five or six boards glued together and then another gap, they're moving away."

Despite the cautions, On An' On, which is available through janitorial suppliers for about $70 a gallon, mops on easily and dries to a beautiful shine in about 20 minutes.

Customers "love it no matter what I say," Kaufold said. "We have to be very careful. When there's a problem, people go to the biggest pockets to pay."

"That's the kind of product we love," said Capen, who used to use Mop 'N Glo on her wood floors to fine effect -- "where you can ignore the instructions and get nice results."