I almost forgot to mention that I cleaned and resealed the existing hardwood floors just before we moved in—literally about 26 hours before the move. With the new hardwoods upstairs looking glossy, I didn’t want the floors in the office, living room, and dining room to feel dull or outdated. So I went ahead and gave them a full refresh: a thorough clean, gentle polishing, and a reseal to revive the finish.
The first step was a careful sweep to remove dust, dirt, and the random faux Christmas tree needles that had been left behind. Even in an otherwise empty room, you can end up with a surprisingly large pile of debris.
Not a bad pile for an empty room, right?
To clean and refresh the floors, I began with a popular hardwood floor cleaner and restorer brand I picked up at Home Depot—Bona. It’s often recommended for cleaning and adding gloss back to older, dulled, mildly scratched hardwoods that don’t need a full refinishing but do benefit from moisture and polish to fill small scrapes and reseal the surface.
I also had a few small areas of surface damage to address.
After sweeping, the next step was the cleaner. I sprayed the floor cleaning solution directly onto the floor in sections and followed with a mop fitted with the scrubbing cleaning pad. It’s more work than a quick swipe with a disposable pad—you actually scrub to lift dirt and grime, so expect to break a sweat. I’d rate the effort a solid 7 out of 10.
Once the surface was clean, I moved on to the sealing and polishing step. This phase requires a gentler motion to spread the restorer evenly—think mop-back-and-forth rather than aggressive scrubbing. For this stage I switched to a polishing pad (more like lamb’s wool) that spreads the product evenly, while the cleaning pad has more texture for scrubbing. Quick note: my mop head arrived misaligned, so I improvised with painter’s tape to keep it working properly.
You can see the difference where I’d already applied the restorer: the finished area looks moisturized and shiny while the untreated floor appears dull and dry.
Unfortunately, after the Bona product dried in some spots, the result was inconsistent. Areas that were still wet looked great, but once they dried some patches went back to a chalky, dull appearance. It’s possible our floors’ old finish or previous refinishing affected how well the product bonded, because we had heard otherwise positive reviews.
Since the first product didn’t produce the even, lasting shine I wanted, I went back to Home Depot and tried a different floor restorer—Rejuvenate. It’s available in satin or high gloss; I chose high gloss to match the upstairs floors.
I kept using the same cleaning spray and mop for the initial cleaning step because they did a fine job removing dirt. The main change was swapping the sealing product: instead of the first brand, I applied the Rejuvenate wood floor restorer with the polishing pad and worked my way out of the room.
Here’s how the room looked before applying the Rejuvenate product, and this is how it looked just after application:
Rejuvenate applied more evenly and left a richer, sealed appearance that persisted after drying. Unlike the first product, it didn’t turn chalky after a few hours, and I was able to apply two coats in each room a few hours apart instead of waiting a full day between coats. I also went back over the office with Rejuvenate rather than applying a second coat of the original product, and the improvement was obvious.
Once fully dry, the dining room and living room showed a consistent, glossy finish—deep and clean-looking, matching the sheen we have upstairs. The office now looks the same after the second pass with the better-performing restorer.
Have you used a floor cleaning and resealing system to revive dull or mildly scratched hardwood floors? If so, what products did you try—Bona, Rejuvenate, or another brand—and what were your results? Comparing different products side by side can be a helpful way to decide what works best for your floors.
P.S. I followed up on how these floors held up over time, and the improvement has lasted well—still looking good months later.
*This post contains affiliate links to products we purchased and liked.*