Expert: Joseph G. Swallow - 3/8/2010

Question
Please advise on how to clean and then preserve oak stairs. They are 13 yrs old and are used as the main entrance to our house from the garage/outside.They have 13 yrs of daily wear & tear as well as dust/outside ground-in dirt accumulated, although they are vacuumed weekly and cleaned periodically with murphys oil.-still look quite dirty/worn. HELP! thank you

Answer
First try damp mopping it with about 1/2 cup vinegar in a gallon of warm water. Vinegar is useful for removing any soap residue or build-up.  Murphy's oil is not something I would recommend to clean stair treads. On the label it says "pure vegetable oil soap".  When you use this product, after the water is dried up, you are left with a vegetable oil film on your stair treads that turns and attracts dust and dirt.  It can be especially hard in corners and edges.

If you want to brighten up your stairs a little, add 2 tablespoons furniture polish in the gallon of warm water with the vinegar.

The best way to preserve oak stairs is to insure they have a good coat polyurethane.  Any paint store will carry this product especially made for wood floors and stairs.

If you need to completely refinish, this would require sanding the treads down to the bare wood and then applying the polyurethane.

Just remember to stay away from the Murphy's oil!  Save that for the cabinets.

Thank you!

Joseph