Pallmann Clean Strong is a cleaning emulsion specially formulated to remove surface contamination from wood floors including dirt, grease, some waxes, acrylics, and cleaner buildup in preparation for the application of a maintenance coat over an older, existing urethane-style finish on a hardwood floor.

This is not a daily, or even weekly cleaner – it is WAAAAAY too strong for that and will dull and possibly even etch your floor surface if used incorrectly. We’re sorry to sound mean – but we don’t want to mislead anyone: this product should only be used when you are deliberately trying to dull a surface to prepare it to bond to a fresh layer of finish. The added benefit of Clean Strong is that it will dissolve and strip off invisible residues from your floor finish that might cause your fresh topcoat to fail to bond to the existing coat. You’ve read our article on the screen and recoat process – you know that if you apply a new coat to a floor that looks good, but if it was washed with Murphy’s Oil Soap or coated with weird polishes (no Orange Oil or Pledge on floors please) that coat will peel or delaminate. And we don’t mean it will peel off neatly and allow you to try your recoat again, no. It leaves a failed, unbonded coat that cannot be removed without fully sanding off ALL of the coats.

The problem with recoating existing finishes is that they can look just fine to the naked eye, but many of these contaminants are not visible. In our contracting business, our policy is that, unless we have been in control of the cleaning products used on a floor for its entire life, we insist on using CleanStrong prior to abrading the floor to prepare for a fresh topcoat. We spend $40.80 and potentially save $2000 worth of resanding. This, my dears, is a bargain.

Do not use at full strength! Dilute with water 10:1 or 12:1. Spray directly onto the floor surface and scrub with a white polishing pad, or even a red pad if the CleanStrong is actually lifting a sludge residue off the floor. Wipe the floor with clean, damp cloths or towels to remove all residue.