Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - The Unthinkable: wax on urethane

Not knowing any better, I managed to do the unthinkable: a couple weeks ago and I coated my urethane finished wood floors with a coat of Johnson's Liquid Floor Wax. It looked terriffic for a week then began to fade. I started doing some reading and discovered the blunder I had made.

So what are my options at this point re removing the wax and restoring the original finish? OR do I have to have the whole floor refinished (screened/sanded, and new urethane applied)?

TIA,
Nick

Never use wax, oil soaps, or other coatings on your polyurethane floor!!

Since coating the floor with polyurethane occasionally is expected, you must always be careful never to apply anything that will interfere with a future touchup of the finish. Never use wax, oil soap or acrylic floor dressings, such as Mop & Glow, on your polyurethane finished wood floor. Just vacuum your wood floor often, wipe up spills as they happen and occasionally damp mop with water. Or better yet, use a formulated hardwood floor cleaner with a special hardwood floor mop to minimize the amount of water that the wood floor is subjected to.

A common reason that a flooring contractor won't coat a used wood floor with an additional coat of polyurethane is that very often the floor-owner can't guarantee that the floor has never been treated with something that will inhibit a new coat of polyurethane from adhering to the existing finish.

MAINTAINING AND RECOATING POLYURETHANED FLOORS
HandyMan
Retrieved 29 October 2002
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/inf/inffloor/infrefinpoly.shtm

The only way to successfully remove all wax is to sand the floors to restore the finish. Polyurethane will not adhere to wax.

So just to confirm:
It sounds as though there is no intermediate remedy to strip the wax and buff it out; only real option is refinishing the floor?
Am I understanding this correctly?
Nick

ZeroDfx,
Yes, there is an option.
Just find a wax stripper, and you should be back to normal.
Once stripped and cleaned off, you can''t however make it shinier than it was. You don't want to buff it at all. If it's a satin or low gloss sheen, the only way to make it shinier is with a coat or two of high gloss poly.

Now, the real reason for not waxing poly is called SILICONE. It is included in so many products, the rule of thumb is DON'T WAX poly. Silione is the wood finisher's nightmare.

fred

Thanks for your input. If I can get it back to the way it was (satin semi-gloss type finish), that would be fine w/ me.
Nick

Say, Fenwalt - Would there be a problem if one waxed a urethane finished floor with a silicone-free paste wax?

Thiggy,

In twelvepoles reponse, you'll note that poly will not adhere to wax. It's best not to use a wax on poly floors.
I build some furniture and have waxed poly - but I know how to fix any problems if I were to refinish.

You won't gain much, your poly floors ar already shiney if the floor is gloss poly. When they get to the point of dullness due to age and multiple minute scratches, it may be time to refinish. Sooooo, wax may repel the new coat of poly in a refinish job.
fred