waxing wooden floors (in Buenos Aires)

[Kragen Javier Sitaker]

Our new landlady told me today that we need to wax our own floors,
since that's something that normally needs to be done two to eight
times a month --- not part of the process of making the apartment
suitable for habitation.  So I thought I would learn a bit about floor
waxing.  It turns out she was mistaken; waxing a wood floor properly
takes many hours, and only needs to be done about once a year.

Paste Waxing a Wood Floor Takes Many Hours
------------------------------------------

"How to Apply Wax to Wood" via "eHow.com":
> http://www.ehow.com/how_14590_apply-wax-wood.html
  Recommends sealing the first time with varnish, and on subsequent
  times, cleaning the whole floor with mineral spirits.  The total
  drying time for the process they recommend (applying only two coats
  of wax) is eight hours, and the time to actually apply and polish
  the wax is additional, on top of that.  Clearly not something you
  want to do every week, or every month.  "Good waxes contain carnauba
  and beeswax."

"How to Wax your Floor", by Elizabeth Grace
> http://www.howtodothings.com/home-and-garden/a2849-how-to-wax-your-floor.html
  "The first step is to thoroughly remove all old wax buildup," with
  wax stripper and rubber gloves.  "You might want to consider renting
  an electric floor scrubber to make your work easier," when removing
  the old wax.  "Apply 2-3 thin layers of fresh wax, being sure to
  allow each coat to dry thoroughly before applying the next. Most
  commercial floor wax products recommend waiting about 45 minutes
  between coats."

Given these details, I don't think it's something that any reasonable
person would do in their own home more than once a month at best.

Acrylic Waxes are Faster
------------------------

"How To Clean And Maintain Wood Floors PART ONE", from "Wood Floor
Doctor.com", by Joseph Turney
> http://www.woodfloordoctor.com/_how_tos/articles/cleanpt1.shtml
  "Waxing is not such an arduous task anymore, and the newer water
  based acrylic waxes are simply appied, left to dry and don't need to
  be buffed. The best place to use this water based wax, is a
  sand-on-site floor that is subject to lots of scratching. For some,
  the way to go is to use a high-solids acrylic wax. Top Gloss is
  available through the Cleaning Center at www.cleanreport.com. This
  is applied to a clean, well-finished wood surface and left to
  dry. It will give you that high shine you see on commercial
  floors. You will have to strip this wax off with a Mop Stripper and
  rewax, but this is only a once or twice a year project."

Unfortunately I haven't found any of these in Argentina yet.

Wood Wax Floor Finishes Last About a Year
-----------------------------------------

"Maintenance products", from the National Wood Flooring Association
> http://www.woodfloors.org/consumer/maintProducts.aspx
  "To maintain a wood floor with a wax finish, dust mop or vacuum
  regularly.  Buff the floor periodically to restore shine. When
  buffing no longer restores shine, waxing may be
  necessary... Depending on traffic, a properly maintained wood floor
  with a wax finish should only need waxing once or twice a year."

"How To Clean And Maintain Wood Floors PART TWO", from "Wood Floor
Doctor.com", by Joseph Turney
> http://www.woodfloordoctor.com/_how_tos/articles/cleanpt2.shtml
  "... you can do a similar treatment using acrylic wax. Just strip
  and re-wax once a year. And only resand and refinish every 40 years
  or so. You can avoid all those nasty fumes of recoating, and your
  floor will always have a high gloss."  By some guy who's been doing
  wood floor stuff full-time for 27 years.  Acrylic waxes are
  different from the paste waxes discussed in all the above items.

"Top 10 Flooring Myths", from "Wood Floor Doctor.com", by Joseph
Turney
> http://www.woodfloordoctor.com/_myths_tips_history/myths.shtml
  "Wax itself will not provide much water resistance and will wear off
  within a year in the high used areas. Although it is easy to apply,
  even paste wax has some toxic solvent in it."

"WOOD FLOOR TIPS", from the Bissell vacuum cleaner company
> http://www.bissell.com/Main2.asp?Page_id=46666&cookie_test=1
  "Buffing should always be tried before adding another coat of wax,
  as this will often provide a nice shine without adding another layer
  of waxy build-up. If this still does not work, you will need to
  apply a wood floor cleaner or hard floor cleaner and liquid wax made
  specifically for wood floors. After this has been applied, let the
  surface dry and then buff. This process should be carried out once
  or twice a year depending upon the traffic."

Paste Floor Waxes in Argentina are the Same as in the US
--------------------------------------------------------

"Cera Cremosa para Pisos 'Wassington'"
> http://www.wassington.com.ar/sites/hogar/esp/productos/detalles.asp?CatCodigo=lh&ProdCodigo=lh006
  This is a wood floor cream wax from a popular local maker of wax and
  polish products.  It suggests phoning them at 4488-4100 for more
  information.

"Cera Waxin Hoja de Seguridad"
> http://prodelimp.com.ar/hojasseguridad/wassington/cerawaxin.htm
  This is the Argentinian equivalent of an MSDS for another wood floor
  cream wax from Wassington.  It consists of carnauba wax, paraffin
  (0.75 to 7 times as much), "esencia" (aroma?) (0.1%-0.5%) and
  "aliphatic hydrocarbons", about which more later.  It recommends
  good ventilation, protective glasses, and PVC gloves and boots when
  working with it, although they assert that it is essentially
  nontoxic.

  "Aliphatic hydrocarbons" is a pretty nonspecific term; aliphatic
  hydrocarbons include any non-aromatic hydrocarbon, i.e. anything
  from methane to acetylene to omega-3 fatty acids to paraffin.  But
  there's a CAS number, 64742-47-8, and that turns out to be
  deodorized kerosene, "a mixture of C10-C14 naphthenes, iso- and
  n-paraffins."

  Anyway, so this is pretty much the same product that the
  English-language web pages about paste wax for wood floors are
  talking about.

"Elaboracion de productos de limpieza-ceras de piso y al agua"
> http://www.monografias.com/trabajos11/elalimp/elalimp.shtml
  This appears to be a bunch of recipes for making floor wax.  I can't
  tell if any of them are intended for wood floors, although at least
  the first one is water-free.