I almost forgot to mention that I scrubbed and resealed the existing hardwood floors just before we moved in—literally about 26 hours before. The new hardwood upstairs was so glossy that I didn’t want the floors in the office, living room, and dining room to feel outdated by comparison. So I gave them some attention and refinished them as best I could.

First step: sweeping. I cleared away the dust, little bits of debris, and what looked like remnants of an old faux Christmas tree. Even an empty room can produce a surprising pile.

After sweeping, I used a well-regarded floor cleaner from Bona that I picked up at the home improvement store. I’d heard good things about it for cleaning and brightening older or slightly worn hardwoods—floors that don’t need a full refinishing, but could use moisture and a polish to minimize small scratches and reseal the surface.

The cleaning routine involved spraying the Bona floor cleaner in sections and following up with a mop fitted with the cleaner pad. It turned into a surprisingly sweaty workout—this isn’t a quick swipe with a disposable mop. You have to scrub more aggressively to lift grime and prepare the wood for the finish. I’d rate it a solid 7 on the exertion scale.

Once the floors were thoroughly cleaned, I moved on to sealing and polishing. This step is gentler—more of a sweeping motion to evenly spread the product as you move toward the room’s exit. I switched to a polishing pad (a softer, lambswool-style pad instead of the scrubbing pad) to apply the sealer. Small detail: my mop arrived a bit damaged, so I had to secure the head with painter’s tape to make it usable.

When the polish was wet, the treated areas looked noticeably richer and shinier compared to the untreated parts. In the photos I took, you can see the difference: the freshly polished area was moisturized and glossy, while the unpolished floor remained dull and dry.

However, once the Bona sealer dried, some sections reverted to looking chalky and dull. A few spots retained the shine, but much of the surface didn’t hold the polished look. I’m not sure whether it was the age of our floors or how they had been refinished previously, but the overall result wasn’t convincing enough for me to continue with the rest of the rooms using that product.

I returned to the store and picked up a different product: Rejuvenate wood floor restorer. It’s available in satin and high gloss; I chose high gloss to better match the upstairs floors, which we like for their reflective finish.

I kept using the Bona cleaner and mop with the cleaner pad for the initial clean since it worked fine for that purpose. For the sealing step, though, I switched to the Rejuvenate restorer and used the polishing pad. The difference was immediate: the Rejuvenate went on more evenly, leaving a richer, sealed appearance that stayed consistent after drying. Where the Bona had turned chalky as it dried, the Rejuvenate retained a genuine sheen. It also allowed two coats a few hours apart, rather than waiting 24 hours between coats like the other product required, so I could finish the rooms faster.

I even went back and redid the office floor with Rejuvenate instead of applying a second coat of the Bona product, and the improvement was worth the extra trip to the store. The dining room, living room, and office all dried with a consistent glossy finish that matched the rest of the house nicely.

Have you tried a cleaning and resealing system on dull or lightly scratched floors? Maybe you’ve used Bona, Rejuvenate, or another brand. Trying two products side by side can be a helpful comparison when you’re deciding what works best for your particular floors and finish.

Psst – I checked back in after several months and the floors were still holding up well.

*Note: this post previously included affiliate mentions for products we used and liked.*