Four Ways to Eliminate Slipperiness of Wood Floors

Lately, several areas of the hardwood floor in my house have become mysteriously slippery—so slippery that it’s quite dangerous. I feel like I might lose my footing when I walk on them, and I’ve had several near misses before I started avoiding them (or at least walking on them more carefully).

I can’t live like this, so I started looking for solutions, starting from the root cause.

Why are your wood floors suddenly slippery?

It turns out that wooden floors often become slippery on their own, and this can happen for a variety of reasons.

• Applying Wax or Polish: If you apply any kind of finish to your floor to give it extra shine, it can build up over time and turn your floor into an icy skating rink.

• Oil- and silicone-based cleaners: Some cleaners that promise a shiny finish contain silicone or oil, which can also build up and turn your floors into a slippery slide.

• Dirt and moisture: Dirt, even invisible, can act as a dry lubricant, and high humidity can cause a damp film to form on the floor surface.

• Time: Finally, over time, all those feet walking on the floor can polish the surface, removing the microscopic imperfections that previously provided it with traction.

I don’t polish or wax my floors, don’t use oil- or silicone-based cleaners, and I clean fairly regularly, so I ruled out the first few causes and assumed we’d simply worn away the protective coating on our floors due to regular foot traffic. This can happen to any wood floor treated with a protective coating, but there are a few fairly simple ways to deal with it.

Start with a thorough cleaning.

The first thing I did was a thorough cleaning. I wash my floors regularly, but there’s always a chance something might have spilled unnoticed—slippery areas are found between the kitchen and dining room, and between the tool closet and every other room in the house. Vegetable oil, WD40—many things could have spilled unnoticed. If you’re unsure about the presence of contaminants on a slippery floor, a thorough cleaning can be a simple solution.

Always use a pH-neutral cleaner specifically designed for wood floors, and never use vinegar, even heavily diluted with water. Vinegar can corrode the floor finish; while it may help reduce slipperiness, it can also cause irreparable damage. I used Bona wood floor cleaner and wiped the areas several times, but the floors still remained slippery.

Add some rugs.

A simple solution, especially if it’s just one or two slippery spots, is to simply lay down a rug or carpet with an anti-slip backing. The floor will still be slippery, but it won’t pose any danger. If the slippery spot is quite large (or covers the entire floor), this may not work, as the rugs will simply slide around without a grip. But for a small slippery spot, this can be a quick and easy solution.

Apply temporary (or permanent) treatment

If cleaning and coating slippery floors doesn’t help, there are a few more advanced solutions you can try:

• Anti-slip sprays. There are many temporary anti-slip sprays that can be applied to floors, such as Rustoleum AntiSlip or Slip Doctors Safety Spray . While Rustoleum’s spray is suitable for indoor use and on wood floors, the instructions don’t specify that it’s suitable for hardwood floors, and when I quickly tested it on a scrap piece of wood I had lying around, it looked slightly cloudy. Safety Spray, on the other hand, dried very clear and significantly reduced slip resistance, so I’d recommend it. It does slightly alter the floor’s sheen (noticeable in the right lighting), but it’s also a temporary solution and will need to be reapplied about once a year.

• Slip NoMor . This product is actually designed for stages and dance floors, but it can be used on any wood floor. I haven’t tested it, but the procedure is pretty simple: first, thoroughly clean the floor, then dilute the product at a ratio of 1 part Slip NoMor to 20 parts water. Then, apply the product with a mop and let it dry. The coating will only last about a week (and can be removed with hot water at any time), so it’s not a permanent solution unless you’re willing to reapply it every week or so.

• Coatings. A more permanent and complex solution is to coat the floor with a clear anti-slip coating, such as Floor Grip , Bona Anti-Slip , or Loba 2K Invisible . These are essentially new floor sealers, and applying them requires sanding the floor and allowing them to dry for several days. This can be done yourself if you’re confident, but it’s not a quick fix.

• Painting. If your wood floors are in good condition, this might not be the best idea, but if they’re a bit worn, painting them with an anti-slip additive can be a cheap and easy way to fix the problem.

As a last resort, re-finish.

If cleaning and temporary sprays don’t help, and you’re considering applying a coating to address the slippery flooring issue, you might consider completely redoing the floor and having it professionally treated with an anti-slip coating. This will ensure a uniform finish while simultaneously refreshing the floor. This is the most expensive and labor-intensive solution, but also the most durable. Most professional flooring professionals can recommend a suitable protective coating that will improve traction.

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