Tripod member lxs asks:
I plan to strip and polyurethane my wood floor in the spring, but in the meantime I wanted to put a temporary finish on the floor because it was looking very dull. I applied floor wax and buffed it with a cloth. It looks better, but the floor looks a little greasy. I probably should have rented a buffer, but was trying to do it cheaply because I plan to do it again in a few months anyway. Is there anything else I can try to make the finish look better?

Handy Girl Karen suggests:
Well, I consulted a few friends who work with woodwork and wood floors, and of course they said you should have just refinished the floor. But, hey, life is full of What You Should Have Dones, so in the meantime, maybe you could throw a gorgeous rug (or even a passable one) down. Or you could get one of those teeny buffers that you stick on a Dremel power tool or screwshooter. Then you could do a nutty-professor-on-speed buff job on the floor. When you get the cash together to polyurethane the floor, look into a water-based urethane. There are new ones on the market that are extremely durable, beautiful, quick drying, and non-toxic. It will make the job much less of a headache than using oil products.

If you'd like to remove the floor wax, Handy Girl Candi has a few suggestions.

More Handy Girls Answers | Ask the Handy Girls