How to Buff Out Scratches on Hardwood Floors

While care can ensure that hardwood floors avoid serious wear and tear, they inevitably acquire scratches and small dings. Thankfully, minor damage can be removed without the laborious and time consuming process of refinishing the floor. Whether you have a finished or unfinished floor, light scratching and minor dents can be removed or minimized with a little buffing and touching up.

Things You'll Need

• Pad(s) of fine, plain steel wool
• Sanding hand block (optional)
• Fine-grit sandpaper
• Polyurethane
• Paint brush

Instructions

1. Dampen a pad of steel wool with mineral spirits if you are working with a hardwood floor sealed with polyurethane. This will dissolve the sealant enough so you can buff the scratches, rather than the top layer of sealant.

2. Rub the scratched or dinged area gently with the steel wool. Be sure to rub in the same direction as the wood grain, or you will create more scratches rather than buffing them out.

3. Sand the scratched or dinged area with fine-grit sandpaper to remove anything the steel wool does not buff out. Once again, rub with the grain for the best effect. A sanding hand block will be easier to work with, but is not necessary.

4. Wipe up the sawdust and debris with a rag. Apply linseed oil to the rag if you are cleaning up an unfinished floor. For a finished and sealed floor, spray the work area lightly with Murphy's Oil Soap and then wipe it up.

5. Reseal the work area with polyurethane or another varnish after the clean-up dries, and allow this to set for at least eight hours. If you are buffing an unfinished floor, skip this step.

Tips & Warnings

• For widespread light scratches, major dents or deep gouging, you will need to refinish the floor with power sanders. Buffing alone will not suffice.

References

• Dummies.com: How to Fix Scatches in Hardwood Floors
• HomeTips: Removing Wood Floor Scratches and Dents