Scrubbing old wooden floors with soap

This is the blog about when we drove around Lake Malgomaj to the village of Skansholm to scrub an old wooden floor from the 1930s with soap.
Come along, and you'll see how it went, and maybe you'd also like to see the film we made!?

Our good friends Maria and Magnus have bought a large old house in Skansholm, Vilhelmina. The house is from the 1930s and is being renovated in stages. Important and, as Maria says, boring things first. They have started at the right end and fixed things that are necessary but may not be very visible at first. They have renovated the chimney, drained, and fixed pipes... smart but not as fun as decorating and fixing curtains. Anyway, the house has got a new modern kitchen with an old-fashioned rural feel, and of course, it has retained its charm with a wood stove and plank floors. It is one of these floors that we will now take a closer look at!

The floor is made of a soft/porous wood, spruce or pine, both we and the house owners are a little unsure, but it is clear that it is not oak 😉

The floor is original since the house was built in the 1930s and has a fantastic quality and wear that is not possible to create with anything other than time and wear from people, simply beautiful!

But with wear and tear over the years also come stains and a greyness that you want to get rid of. That is what we will try to remedy with superfatted soap - Västerbottenssåpa, scrub brush, water, and cloth.

Important when scrubbing floors with soap

• New floors are ALWAYS treated according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
• Scrub with soap for surface treatment with cold water.
• Always use a superfatted soap, not cheap soap from the grocery store, it dries out instead of treating.
  – Linseed oil soap and Västerbottenssåpa are examples of superfatted soaps. Beware of soap based on tall oil!
• If you scrub an old floor to get it 1. clean, 2. treated surface - then you must use lukewarm water to be able to dissolve stains and remove dirt.
  – When you have scrubbed the floor clean, then scrub/wipe the floor with superfatted soap and cold water to get a protective surface and nourishing effect.
• Use a scrub brush of natural material with the right hardness, it does not damage the floor, and natural material (wooden floor) + natural material, brush is an equation that adds up 😉
• Wipe with a good cloth.
• Scrub section by section.
• Wet the floor one section at a time and scrub after, work your way through the room.
  
  Good luck