Good timber floor care starts with knowing what is on the wood. A cleaning routine, an oil refresh and a full sand-and-refinish are different jobs. Use this guide to choose the right next step, then keep the finish manufacturer's instructions with your household cleaning supplies.
If you arrived through an Anro Floorcare link, the former Anro Floorcare section explains the connection. For the old timber-care PDF, go straight to our oiled timber floor care guide.
Identify the finish before choosing a product
Look for the installer's invoice, coating tin, warranty or handover sheet. Ask the previous owner or property manager if you rent. Record the product name and number: knowing the timber species alone does not identify its coating. A matte appearance is not enough to distinguish an oil from a low-sheen film coating.
Use this decision table to organise the information you need. It is a starting point for checking the manufacturer's directions, not a product compatibility chart.
What you know about the floor | Your next step | Information to confirm |
|---|---|---|
A named penetrating oil or hardwax oil | Read the oiled-floor guide and the matching care sheet | Approved cleaner, applicator and maintenance oil |
A polyurethane or other film coating | Find that coating's cleaning instructions | Cleaner compatibility and when professional recoating is due |
Factory-finished engineered timber | Use the flooring brand's care and warranty documents | Factory finish, permitted methods and repair limitations |
Cork, parquetry or a mixed-material floor | Identify both the construction and surface coating | Instructions for the complete floor system |
No reliable finish information | Pause product experiments and contact an installer or flooring specialist | Whether the existing surface can be identified or needs assessment |
ATFA explains that coatings need different maintenance products, and that steam mops can damage finishes. Its advice is to follow the flooring or coating manufacturer's instructions. See ATFA's floor-care guidance.
Build a simple care record
Keep a note on your phone or inside a cupboard so everyone cleaning the floor uses the same information. Include the room, finish brand and product number, installation or coating date, approved cleaner, dilution instructions, and the installer's contact details. Photograph the label rather than relying on a remembered product colour.
Put a separate note against any newly finished room. Ask the installer to distinguish when it can be walked on, when furniture can return, when it can be cleaned with moisture and when rugs can go down. These are separate milestones; a floor that feels dry may still be curing.
For everyday prevention, remove grit regularly, wipe spills promptly and check furniture protectors for dirt or wear. Use only the moisture level and cleaning product permitted for the finish. ATFA also recommends entrance mats and lifting furniture instead of dragging it. These measures help reduce avoidable wear; they do not repair damaged coatings. ATFA: coating choices and maintenance.
Cleaning, maintenance or restoration?
Describe what you can see before deciding what to buy. Is the issue loose dirt, a sticky patch after cleaning, an isolated scratch, a worn traffic lane or movement in the boards? Take a photograph in ordinary light and note when it appeared and which products have been used.
For dirt on an intact finish, start with the approved cleaning routine. For a change in the finish, ask its manufacturer whether a maintenance treatment is suitable. For exposed timber, deep damage, lifting boards or an unknown coating, get a flooring specialist's assessment before using abrasives or machinery. A product sold as a polish is not automatically appropriate for every floor.
Our hardwood cleaning and buffing guide offers further reading. Check its suggested methods against your exact finish before using them. For an oil system, use the more specific oiled-floor guide, including its product-selection checklist.
These resources explain care decisions. They are not a quotation for sanding, floor installation, recoating or repairs. If you arrange household cleaning, tell the cleaner which finish you have and provide its care instructions before work begins.
Former Anro Floorcare
Anro Floorcare's historical website described timber floor treatment and work involving timber, cork and parquetry. Its archived company profile discussed the founders' experience with floor treatments and the connection to Livos oils. Its timber-care PDF was dated November 2012. Those records explain why older websites may link here for oil-finished floor care or information about Anro.
Selected Anro website addresses now lead to these new Simply Maid resources. This is not the former company's website or a continuation of its quotations, guarantees or customer service. Simply Maid does not claim that the former team has joined it, that the businesses have merged, or that Livos endorses these guides.
The old gallery and testimonials are not reproduced here. Project photographs, historical contact details and customer statements should not be presented as Simply Maid's work. For a past Anro job, use your original paperwork to identify the treatment and seek current advice from the coating manufacturer or a flooring specialist.
Historical reference: archived Anro company profile. Treat its business and product information as historical.
Resources
Use Livos Australia's care directory for its separate timber, furniture, concrete and decking guidance. For other finishes, start with the brand shown on your floor's paperwork. ATFA's consumer information provides broader flooring references and links to its consumer website.
Continue with oiled timber floor care, or browse floors and surfaces for other household materials.
Prepared with AI assistance on 14 October 2026 using the linked manufacturer and industry sources. No independent flooring inspection or human technical review is claimed.
Change log
Who wrote and edited this article, when its sources were checked, and what changed.
