Looking after your Kährs lacquered floor

For you to get as much pleasure as possible from your Kährs lacquered floor, it’s important that you look after and maintain it correctly.

Download Maintenance and Repair Guide (pdf)

Longer life with lacquer

Lacquered floors are durable and easy to keep clean. Our top-quality, hardwearing lacquer is renowned for letting the true character of the wood shine through, by emphasising its living structure. Whilst it is incredibly hard, Kährs lacquer prefinish is exceptionally thin and doesn’t conceal the structure of the wood, like many other competing lacquers do.

Cleaning lacquered flooring

Your wood floor will benefit from daily ‘dry’ cleaning, i.e. vacuuming or sweeping. If necessary, you can wipe it clean with a well wrung-out mop or cloth. Ensure that the floor is only dampened slightly, and that the film of water formed dries within one minute. Do not leave any spillages on your floor, particularly if your wood floor is made from beech or hard maple, as these wood species are particularly sensitive to moisture. How often you have to clean your floor, in this way, will depend on how dirty it is and how often you use the room. Kährs Cleaner will give you the best results. If you use a different cleaning solution, ensure that it is pH-neutral (maximum pH 8).

Stain removal — on the spot cleaning

If you end up with a stain on your floor, you can try removing it using a mild detergent (not containing ammonia) such as Kährs Cleaner, or you could try some washing-up liquid dissolved in warm water. If this doesn’t help, here are a few tips on how to remove difficult marks. But take care when using strong stain-removers, as using too much or rubbing too hard may affect the lacquer.

Give your matt surface a new lease of life

Kährs Lacquer Refresher can give a new lease of life to a scratched matt floor surface, whilst also providing good protection. Before applying refresher, the floor should be free from polish, wax and other contaminants. Apply the refresher with a clean, soft cloth, sponge or polish applicator. If necessary, you can apply a second coat. Leave the refresher to dry for 30 minutes before replacing furniture. For floors in a domestic environment, one or two treatments a year is generally sufficient; one litre of refresher covers an area of 60-70 m2.

Unlike floors that are maintained with polish or wax, a floor treated with Kährs Lacquer Refresher can be re-lacquered. Remove all refresher, using Kährs Remover, then sand the surface before re-lacquering.

Minor repairs

Small surface scratches and scrapes can also be treated with Kährs Lacquer Refresher. Slightly deeper scratches have to be treated first with Kährs Touch-Up Lacquer or matt lacquer. Any small dents can be filled with Kährs Touch-Up Lacquer. If the dents have cracked, apply new matt lacquer.

Deeper notches, cracks and scratches are best filled with Kährs Woodfiller, then treated with Kährs Touch-Up Lacquer or matt lacquer. If the damage to the floor is even more severe, damaged strips or boards may need to be replaced.

Renovation of lacquered wood flooring

If a small area of the floor lacquer has been scratched, under a chair for example, you can treat the floor with Kährs Lacquer Refresher. The refresher conceals microscopic scratches. Before applying, vacuum the floor thoroughly and clean with Kährs Cleaner to remove every trace of grease. If the floor is particularly dirty, you may have to clean it twice. Then you can apply the lacquer refresher.

Partial repair of Kährs multi-layer floors and Kährs Linnea

If a small area has been damaged or worn through, or has to be repaired for any other reason, you may have to replace an individual board/boards. Kährs Woodloc® joint makes this an easy task.

Total renovation of lacquered wood flooring

If your floor is very worn, or if it needs to be renovated for any other reason, it is best to machine-sand back to bare wood, so that you can apply a new surface treatment. Follow the lacquer manufacturer’s instructions.

Please note: Kährs Linnea cannot be sanded.

• Things to bear in mind with lacquered flooring

• • Ideally, use doormats both inside and outside external doors to prevent dirt and grit being walked in, which can cause considerable wear.

• • Place protective pads under your furniture (but not metal feet which may leave marks and blemishes on a wood floor) to prevent unnecessary marks and scratches.

• • Wood flooring expands and contracts depending on the ambient climate. To prevent movement and damage to the floor, avoid exposing your floor to temperatures above normal room temperature. The relative humidity should be kept between 30 and 60%. Some wood species — such as beech and hard maple — are more sensitive to climate variation than others.

• • In rooms where water is often spilt, and where it may also be left on the floor, we recommend that an additional coat of lacquer is applied after laying. This seals the joints between the boards and gives better protection against water.

• • A floor can be walked on, carefully, approx. 8 hours after lacquering. Rugs and carpets can be laid on the floor a week after lacquering. Be careful not to spill water on the newly lacquered surface during the first week, as this can cause permanent stains.