In article ,
willem wrote:
We need to refinish the hardwood floors. The sanding has been done. I
am wondering about using wax instead of polyurethane for the
following reasons.
One can redo a high traffic area and other problematic areas easily by
applying wax and buffing instead of redoing the whole floor with
polyurethane. It seems that it will require more regular maintaince
with wax, but it is less disruptive than getting all the furniture out
every 7 years to redo the whole floor. Besides, wax looks nice.
So, my requests a
a) Opinions pro and contra wax.
b) What kind of wax?
c) Stain the floor first or apply the wax to unstained wood? If stain
is desirable, what stain? Minwax Woodsheen?
d) Where do you get wax? It seems that Johnson paste wax is not made
anymore.

See the current "Popular Woodworking" for a fairly informed discussion of
what was is, and is not, good for.

For a floor, you *really* want something highly protective down _first_.
a good alkyd varnish, or gloss polyurethane (gloss is harder than the
less shiny variants).

*THEN* you put wax on. What kind? "Floor wax" aka "wax for wood floors".

Johnsons paste wax is still available in the U.S., unavailable in Canada,
however. Look for something with "Carnuba" wax -- it's the hardest variety.

Sears used to sell a good _liquid_ floor wax -- we used it regularly on
a finished concrete floor. I'd tend to be somewhat hesitant to use liquid
preparations on wood floors, unless I was sure there was a _good_ seal-coat
don first.