I have some scraches on my dark hardwood floors is there anything I can remove it from?

Answer 1

The first thing you need to do is to "rough up" the area so that the polyurethane will stick. If you will be using water based finish to touch up your floor, use a very fine grit of sandpaper. If you will be using oil-based finish, you can use 0000 grade steel wool(Very Fine), or sandpaper, either will work well.

Lightly rub over the scratch and a little to both sides. Be sure to rub in the direction of the grain. If you are touching up parquet block or if the scratch crosses the grain use a circular motion.
Do not bear down too hard, you don't want to cut through the finish, just prepare it for the touch up.

Wipe over the area with a rag very lightly dampened with water (for water based finish) or mineral spirits to pick up all the fine dust created. Allow to dry.

Dip your paint brush into the finish just enough to wet the very tips of the bristles, and then wipe them out until they are almost dry. Carefully brush (again going with the grain)over the area, blending in the edges. The "dry brush" technique is the best to prevent the touch up from looking like a puddle. You can always brush a little more on if required.

Make sure no one steps on this area until it is dry. A few hours to overnight should be plenty of time.



Tips

If you spill something on your hardwood floor dry it up with a paper towel, and then spray Windex on a soft cloth and wipe over the area to remove the residue. The Windex will not leave a dulling haze on your floor like some other cleaners will. You can also spray a small amount on your dust mop to help the dust stick to it.

Make sure to ask your refinisher what type and sheen of finish is being used. There are water and oil based finishes, and both are available in gloss, semi-gloss, and satin or matte finish.

Answer 2

Go to a hardwood store and ask for a scratch crayon. Most stores will have something similar to the color of your floors. Take it home and "color" in the scratchs. It will make them less noticable.

Another possibility is use a smal amount off dark stain on the scratches. A poly-urethane might work, but i would only use this as a last resort

Answer 3

Kiwi shoe polish of about the right shade will work nearly as well as a scratch crayon, if you have any. It's water proof too, so it'll keep the scratch from causing more damage, and you can fill it in a little, but if it's deep, and there's heavy traffic, the filling will probably come out and make a mess.

Sadly, scratches are tough to fill up and hide. the final solution is often to sand it down, and re-seal.

Answer 4

"Old English" scratch cover polish.