How To Get Scratches Out Of Wood Floors

Anyone with solid or engineered wood flooring will know they’re prone to scratches, either inflicted by pet claws, moving heavy furniture or a range of other causes. Knowing how to fix scratches on wood floors is a must if you already have or are thinking about investing in some new solid wood flooring or engineered wood flooring. Below we’ve set out a clear process to help you understand how to remove scratches from wood flooring.

Materials and Tools You Might Need

Evaluate The Damage & First Steps

The method of repairing scratches in your wood floor will hinge on the severity of the scratch. There are multiple ways of filling in scratches or treating the entire floor depending on the number of scratches, length and depth.

Whatever method you decide to go for, it’s important you clean the affected areas before you begin. To make sure you get rid of any dirt and dust present on your flooring, take a lint free cloth and clean the areas with some wood floor cleaner. Make sure to carefully rinse off any excess cleaning product before you begin your repair.

These flooring cleaning products are available from most flooring stores, but we’d encourage you to check which products your flooring manufacturer recommends. If you’d like more detail and information, check out our article on how to clean wood floors.

How to repair light scratches in wood flooring

1.  If you’ve been lucky and only have some light or shallow scratches in your wood flooring, repairing them is relatively simple compared to deep scratches.


2.  Clean the area as described above, then spread a little bit of your floor colourant (after making sure it’s the same tone as your floor,) inside the scratch - try to keep inside the scratch as much as possible, as it can make the area stand out more if you go too far outside. You can spread the colourant on with a small clean brush for most accuracy, although other methods can work too.


3.  If the scratches are particularly light, there are various home-made methods to fill in and colour your wood that don’t involve buying wood colourant. Depending on the colour of your floor, rubbing the inside of various nuts along the scratch can impose the colour from the nut into the wood due to its oily properties. Choose a nut that works with the colour of your flooring, but the best options include walnuts and pecans. For darker flooring, coffee grounds can also do the trick, worth a try before you invest in floor colourant!

How to repair deep scratches in your wood flooring

1.  If you have numerous or much deeper scratches, repairing them is a little more difficult. Before you start, make sure to clean your floor as before, making sure there is no debris in the affected areas.


2.  For deep scratches in particular, specialised wood filler or wood putty is the best option. With either option, read the instructions on the product before you begin, as different products sometimes tell you how to fill gaps in wood floors. Apply the putty or wood filler into the scratch on the floor and make sure it’s level with a putty knife. Clean away any excess filler or putty that leaks outside of the scratch. After allowing the wood filler to harden, sand in the direction of the stain around the area to allow it to smooth - if you use putty, it should fill the crack perfectly, although you can sand if it isn’t smooth. After allowing the area to dry, you should refinish the area with the original coating. This could include varnish, wood sealer or other products. We’d recommend looking up your specific floor to see what it was finished with originally.