Well-maintained hardwood flooring is meant to last a lifetime, adding warmth and elegance to your home. No matter how well-maintained you keep them, the truth remains that your flooring is always going to be subjected to dents, spills and scratches. This is probably the reason that oil finished wooden floors have gained a lot of popularity if the hardwood flooring trends for 2019 are to be believed.  The scratches are much easier to remove on this type of flooring but if your present hardwood flooring has suffered damage, here is what you can do about it.

Getting the Scratches Removed from Your Wooden Floor

You can get pre-finished or site-finished hardwood flooring, but the ideal way to protect it from daily wear and tear is to get it properly sanded and finished. But how do you know which finish will work best for your unfinished flooring? The process of sanding and refinishing is a very intensive one. Since hardwood flooring is very expensive, the refinish will not be very cheap either. So, it is better to keep it as a last resort for any severe damage. For the scratch marks and discolouration, however, you can follow the following repair tips.

Gentle Cleaning

The older your hardwood flooring gets, the more it amplifies the scratch prints. Dirt particles getting mixed with the floor do not help the situation either. Don’t panic. All you need is to know the dos and don’ts of maintaining your hardwood floor. Avoid using any broom or abrasive material, and instead, go for some gentle cleaning. Do not overdo with the soaking, though. Just use a mop or a vacuum for dust removal.

Using the Right Finish

One of the biggest issue homeowners face is maintaining the shine of the wood floors. The key is thorough cleaning and polishing.

First, use grained sandpaper for scraping off any signs of damage and then you can reapply the stain in the needed areas.  Water-based and oil-based urethane are great choices.

However, water-based finish dries relatively faster, it does not help in matching the new area with the old one.

Oil-based urethanes can leave a yellowish tint on the floor, along with a very strong smell. However, the tint darkens over time, matching the colour with the undamaged areas. The only thing you need to look into is that your floor is thoroughly sanded before the staining process to get rid of any imperfections.

Using Walnut

A natural remedy for hardwood floor scratches is the moisture from walnut. The high level of moisture content and the natural brown dye present in walnuts are great for replenishing worn-out wood.

Utilizing Home Remedies

Some regular household ingredients can work wonders too when it comes to scratch mark removal from your hardwood. For instance, applying a combination of baking soda and olive oil on the affected area is a good option. But refrain from using too much olive oil.

Applying Wood Stain

Cheap alternatives are definitely not going to be easy to repair. Applying some wood stain is also a good solution to scratch removal, and you can get them in oil-based, water-based or combined form.  Oil-based stains, though they take the longest time to dry, offer the longest protection. You can even try different combinations of stains and blending pencils to find out what works.  

In an ideal situation, the best advice would be to keep your hardwood flooring protected from all possible scratches, which isn’t practically possible. Considering these time-tested tips, you’ll be able to get any scratch marks removed from your hardwood flooring, without much trouble.