Johannes Boonstra, technical manager at Spicewood, Texas-based Rubio Monocoat USA, answers:
When you are applying a maintenance coat to a wood floor that was treated in the past with some kind of floor polish, you must remove that residue first by deep-cleaning the wood floor prior to abrading the floor. When you abrade the floor without removing the residual floor polish, you are just spreading it around and can expect an adhesion problem or perhaps fish-eying with the maintenance coat you are going to apply.
Many of these polishes can be removed using a recommended “deep cleaner” potent enough to dissolve the residual polish. Follow the recommendations of the coating manufacturer for such a product and/or process, and use a thick white polishing pad on the buffer to aid the cleaning process.
Test a small area first to determine its effectiveness.
If the coating manufacturer does not offer a “deep-cleaner,” you may use a TSP (tri sodium phosphate) solution. The phosphate-free alternative is called TSP-PF and contains sodium metasilicate. Both are strong high-PH cleaners. After use, neutralize the cleaned surface with a 1:9 solution of white vinegar and water.
If the polish contains a resin that can’t be successfully removed, then you don’t have much choice but to re-sand the floor and refinish.
