Fix Scratches on Hardwood Floors

If you have hardwood floors, accumulating scratches are inevitable, even if you’re careful. The majority of scratches are caused by moving furniture, pets, and tracking in small rocks from outside. Restoring the look of a scratched hardwood floor can be relatively easy, depending on the severity of the scratch. With a few simple steps, you can repair and conceal nicks and scratches in your hardwood, to get the longest life out of your flooring.

Steps

Concealing Shallow Scratches With a Wood Staining Marker

  1. Wipe the scratched area. Use a soft rag dampened with water to gently clean the surface of the hardwood floor from any excess dirt and debris.
  2. Dampen a rag with a wood stain marker. Find a wood stain marker that matches the color of your hardwood floor. Fold a clean rag or paper towel in squares, so there are a few layers to the material. Shake the stain marker before opening, and dab the point of the marker into a corner of the folded cloth. Dab the marker approximately 10-15 times to effectively dampen the cloth with the wood stain.[1]
    • Stain markers come in many colors, and can be found in home department stores, hardware stores, and paint stores.[2]
  3. Rub the stain into the scratch. Lightly press the cloth onto the wood, focusing on the scratched area, and rub the wood stain into the scratch, following the grain of the wood.[3]
    • This application method works best (rather than directly drawing the stain marker over the scratch), because it allows for a gradual addition of stain.
    • If you use the marker to draw and fill in the stain directly, you can saturate the scratch with stain, and end up making the scratch darker than the surrounding wood.[3] Drawing straight onto the scratch like that can make the scratch mark even more obvious.

Fixing Superficial Scratches

  1. Clean the scratched area. If the protective coating of the hardwood floor is scratched, use a soft rag (such as a microfiber cloth) and a small amount of hardwood floor cleaner to remove any contaminants from the scratched area.[4]
    • Any and all small dust particles must be removed from the scratched area so they don’t get preserved in the floor when you add sealant.
  2. Rinse off the cleaner. After cleaning the scratched area of the floor, dampen another rag with water, and wipe down the scratched area to remove the cleanser.[5]
    • Let the scratched area dry before moving on.
  3. Apply a top coating. When the scratched area is completely dry, use a small tipped brush to apply a thin layer of protective finish to the scratched area of the floor.[6] This protective finish could be a sealant, shellac, or some other kind of polyurethane varnish.[7] Ideally, you would use the same kind of finish that is already on the hardwood floor.
    • Consult an employee at your local hardware store for advice on what kind of finish you should use on the floor.
    • If you are an inexperienced wood worker, or if your hardwood floor has a specialty finish (such as a high gloss polyurethane finish), consider hiring a professional to repair and finish the floor.[3]
    • Since hiring a professional will cost more money, it might be most cost-effective to let scratches accumulate, rather than hiring a company to fix one small scratch.[8]

Fixing Shallow Scratches By Sanding

  1. Clean the scratched area. Use a soft rag and a small amount of hardwood floor cleaner to clean the scratched area of the floor.[4] This will remove any small dirt and dust particles, and ensure that you are working with a clean surface.
  2. Rinse the scratched area. Wipe down the scratched area with a damp rag moistened with water.[9] This will remove the cleanser, further sanitizing the workspace.
    • Allow the damped area to totally dry before moving on.
  3. Sand the scratch. Gently rub over the scratch with fine steel wool. Be sure to rub following the grain of the wood. Lightly sand away the scratch until it blends in with the surrounding wood. Once the main scratch is blended into the wood, you may need to focus on lightly sanding the edges of the scratch to ensure everything looks uniform.
    • Use a clean cloth to wipe off the floor and clear it of any dust from sanding.
  4. Fill in the scratch. Rub a wax stick over the scratched and sanded area to fill in the scratch.[4] Wood wax can be clear, but they also come in common wood shades like honey, and different shades of brown.[10] Allow the wood wax to dry and harden for at least 10 minutes.[11]
    • Wood wax sticks can be found at home department store, paint stores, or local hardware stores.
  5. Buff the scratch. Use a clean, soft cloth to rub back and forth over the scratched area, and buff the wax.[7] Buffing the wax will smooth the scratched area, remove excess wax, and restore shine to the floor.[12]

Fixing Deep Scratches and Gouges

  1. Clean the scratched area. Use a soft rag dampened with a small amount of hardwood floor cleaner to clean the scratched area of the wood.[4]
  2. Rinse away the hardwood cleaner. Dampen a new rag with water, and wipe down the scratched area of the floor.[9] With will ensure that your workspace is completely clean and free of excess dirt, dust, and debris.
    • Allow the scratched area to completely dry before proceeding.
  3. Rub mineral spirits over the scratch. If your hardwood floors are coated with a layer of polyurethane, the layer must be removed before you can fix the scratch. If your floors don't have that coating, you don’t need to worry about removing the top finish of the floor. Dampen a scouring pad with mineral spirits, and gently rub the scratched area of the floor.[4] Wipe over the area with a clean cloth, and let the area dry completely.
    • If you are inexperienced with woodworking and sealing, it’s advisable to hire a professional to repair the flooring.
  4. Fill in the scratch. Apply a small amount of wood filler that is similar to the color of your hardwood floor, to your pointer finger. Use your finger to work the wood filler into the scratch or gouge, spreading the filler in all directions to remove air bubbles.[13] You can be generous with the wood filler, because excess filler will be removed later.
    • Be sure to apply wood filler rather than wood putty. The two substances are different, and using wood putty to fill the scratch can alter the effectiveness of matching the filling to the color of the floor, and affect the filling from properly taking the color of staining, if applied.[14]
  5. Wipe off excess filling. Drag a putty knife over the wood filler to smooth out the surface, and help push the wood filler into the scratch. Drag the putty knife over the scratch, moving in many directions, to ensure the edges of the scratch and filler are flat and even.[13]
    • Allow the wood filler to completely dry. This may take anywhere from a few hours to an entire day, so consult the information on the package of filler for drying time.
  6. Sand excess filling. Use a small pad of fine girt sandpaper, perhaps 180-grit, and gently sand the area surround the scratch where excess wood filler has been spread.[13]
    • You can sand following the direction of the grain of the wood, or sand in small little circles. Whichever way you sand, be sure to sand very lightly.
  7. Wipe away excess filling. Dampen a cloth with water and wring it out. The cloth should be moisten but relatively dry to the touch.[13] Use you finger to precisely wipe away the excess filler surrounding the scratch.
    • Be sure to wipe the areas where filler has been spread, and avoid wiping over the actual filled scratch.
  8. Seal the patched area. Apply a thin layer of the same sealer used on the rest of the hardwood floor to the patched area. Use either a small, natural bristle brush or a lambswool roller to apply the layer of polyurethane, varnish, or sealer. Allow the sealer a complete 24 hours to dry before any traffic is allowed on the surface.
    • If you use a foam roller, you run the risk of leaving air bubbles in the sealer.



Tips

  • Sometimes, a regular wax crayon can fill in minor scratches in floors. If you have any crayons handy in the house that happen to match the color of your wood floor, consider experimenting with that before you go out and buy a wood filling wax crayon.

Warnings

  • Be sure to wear protective clothing such as safety glasses and gloves when handling woodworking chemicals.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCiEnXuBd7M
  2. ↑ http://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-fix-scratches-on-hardwood-floors/#.Vmhmdt-rSRs
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCiEnXuBd7M
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 http://www.hardwoodchampion.com/repair-hardwood-scratches/
  5. ↑ http://homeguides.sfgate.com/buff-out-scratches-hardwood-floors-43816.html
  6. ↑ http://www.universalwood.com/repairing-preventing-scratches-in-wood-floors/
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-remove-scratches-from-hardwood-floors/
  8. ↑ http://www.universalwood.com/repairing-preventing-scratches-in-wood-floors/
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 http://homeguides.sfgate.com/buff-out-scratches-hardwood-floors-43816.html
  10. ↑ http://www.hometips.com/repair-fix/hard-wood-floors.html
  11. ↑ http://www.homefloorexperts.com/small-scratches-on-hardwood/
  12. ↑ http://www.todayshomeowner.com/how-to-repair-a-scratch-or-gouge-in-a-hardwood-floor/
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_6Z-yHABq8
  14. ↑ http://www.builddirect.com/learning-center/flooring/repair-scratch-dent-hardwood-floors/
Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Fix_Scratches_on_Hardwood_Floors&oldid=355176"