How To Fix A Scratch On Your Hardwood Floors: 4 Methods

Hardwood flooring makes a home feel both elegant and inviting when it’s at its best. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much for wood floors to end up looking tired and careworn. Accidents happen while you’re moving the couch. The kids bang toys on the ground. The cat decides its favorite spot to sleep is also a great place to stretch and scratch. Area rugs will protect wood floors to some extent, as can furniture pads and regularly sweeping and cleaning. But sooner or later, your beautiful floor is going to get ugly scratches and gouges.

We’ve collected the best methods for removing, disguising, and repairing scratches on wood so you can bring back that beautiful finish. Here’s how to erase annoying scratches from hardwood floors.

Clean And Buff Small Scratches

Cleaning and buffing can renew a floor with light surface scratches that don’t penetrate into the wood. Sweep or vacuum the floor thoroughly, then use a microfiber mop and a high-quality wood floor cleaner like Bona to remove dirt and conceal surface scratches. If needed, follow that up by buffing with a clean microfiber cloth. If the finish has a gloss, try a wood floor polish to bring back its shine.

Renew With Oil

Even small scratches can look very obvious when they reveal raw wood under the finish. Applying coconut or walnut oil can go a long way towards disguising white scratches. Apply a small amount of oil to a cloth and rub it into the wood. Then use the clean side of the cloth to wipe away any excess from the surface of the floor. If your floor has a dark finish, you may get better results from buying a tinted hardwood floor oil.

Color In White Scratches

If oil doesn’t do a good job of camouflaging, you can buy wood markers for your floors. A stain doesn’t always turn out how you expect, so test out your marker in a hidden area first. Start with a light application as you can always darken the wood by applying more coats. Wipe off any marker that gets on the surface on the floor. Mopping can gradually remove the color, so keep your marker handy for reapplying.

For a more permanent solution, you can repair deep scratches with a matching wood stain and finish. After cleaning the floor, use a fine artist’s brush to carefully paint the inside of scratches with the wood stain. After the stain dries, wax or paint over it with a polyurethane or varnish that matches the finish on your floor.

Fill Deep Scratches And Gouges

Deep scratches and gouges take more work to disguise. Wax crayons or wood filler will fill scratches and make them less obvious. Wax crayons make it easier to match the color, but aren’t as durable as wood filler. Buy a repair kit with assorted colors to test out. Then rub the crayon over scratches to color and fill them.

Wood filler is the best choice for repairing large, deep gouges, but usually requires staining. Use a plastic putty knife to fill and smooth over scratches. After it dries, lightly sand with very fine sand paper or steel wool. Apply stain if needed and then laquer, varnish, or polyurethane to match the rest of the floor.

With badly damaged boards, it might make more sense to replace the boards or to refinish the entire floor. This is the time to call a professional wood floor refinisher who can restore your floor to its natural beauty.