How to Avoid Scratches on a Wooden Floor
Unsightly hardwood floor scratches are hard to remove, so you should take every precaution to prevent scratches before they happen. The best way to prevent your wooden floor from becoming scratched up is to change your habits and make a few simple modifications to the room and your furniture.
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Instructions
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Place an area rug down on the floor in all of your high traffic areas to help prevent scratches. You can also place a plastic runner down that leads from one door of the room to another.
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Varnish your hardwood floors with two or more coats of oil-based polyurethane if you haven't done so already. Place an extra layer of varnish over your hardwood floors so that the floor itself will not be scratched. Superficial scratches can then easily be buffed out with a piece of sandpaper and recoated.
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Ask all of your guests to remove their shoes when they enter the room. Provide slippers or booties by the door. Be consistent yourself as well---remove your own shoes, especially high heels, before you walk into the room, every time.
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Keep small children out of the room whenever possible. Do not allow them to play with toys on the hardwood floor.
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Trim the nails of your pets every week. Oftentimes hardwood scratches are caused by cats and dogs who drag their nails across the floor.
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Place rubber bottoms on the feet of all of the chairs in the room---these can be found in your local hardware store, or you can simply glue pieces of rubber to the bottom of each foot. Place sliding furniture moving pads (see "Resources" for an example) under the feet of your couches and tables before you move them.
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Tips & Warnings
To fix a scratch, use sandpaper on the area, pour mineral oil on the area, and then fill it in with a matching wood filler or putty. You can then sand everything smooth and reseal the area with varnish (see "References" for more information).
