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What you can do depends on the condition of the floor. It also depends on your preference.
Are you looking for a brand new looking floor or a floor that looks like it is in a historic house?
If you want brand new looking, you cna try sanding it. If it has already been sanded too man times you will sand through the tongue and groove joints that the floor boards will pop loose. Then you will have to replace or cover the floor. If you cans successfully, you can probably get a new looking floor if you want it.
If you want to maintain the historic patina, you will just wnat to screen the floor and make sure the wax is all off. I think mineral spirits may remove any remaining wax, but check on that to be sure and test a small area to see what it does to the floor.
If you are going with oil and wax then oil the floor and put wax down and buff it out. You will need several coats. It is a ton of work to maintain it.
You can use some of the new satin (not glossy) polys and it will look just like waxed. Satins do not last as long as glossy, ut if you use lots and lots of coats, it will hold up well.
If ou use poly, re-screen the floors. Decide if ou want to use any kind of stain. I frequently use "natural" stain that does not add color but does help even out the look of the floor a bit. I highly suggest that you do not use dark stain. You can also use stain if you are going to oil and wax, but be sure that the stain you use is compatible. Also if you use satin, us a pre-stain conditioner. sand lightly, pre-stain conditiner again, sand lightly then stain. The conditioner makes a big difference and helps enure the wood will take the stain evenly.
You will have to decide between water based and oil based poly. For DIY, I strongly recommend water based.You will need a lot more coats than oil base (like 7 coats in high traffic areas and 3-4 on the edges.). However it dries in about an hour or two unless it is very humid in your house. It does not stink like oil base, and it is very easy to apply with good results. Sand or use fiber pads between coats. We just put a bunch of fiber pads on each side ot he room and had people stand on them and shuffle around the room as they walked through. Thus we "sanded" between coats all week and put another coat or two on over the weekend.
If you DIY, be careful when you use the edging machine for screening. I threw my back out twice using that thing.
If you screen only, you will have some spots, dings, discoloration etc here and there. It will look like an old floor. In many cases, if you want a new looking flor, you may be better off to just put in a new floating floor over the top. That way you can have what you want and the next owner can still refinish the old floors and have a historic floor if they want.
Remember that normally, most of your floor will be covered with a rug or rugs. Thus, a few discolorations or blemishes are often not noticable.
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