If you own a home with wood floors, you know that with all of that beauty comes a lot of upkeep. The finish likes to scratch when you move furniture or whenever your crazy dogs and cats get zoomies around the house. And when your wood floors get super scratched up, you may think sanding is the only option… but I have good news for you! I’ve found a great inexpensive product that helps to smooth out wood flooring scratches in under an hour.
Project supply list
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- Rejuvenate Wood Floor Restorer (I prefer the Satin finish)
- Paint brush
- Microfiber mop
Step 1: Clear off and clean your floors
With Rejuvenate Wood Floor Restorer, it is very important that you thoroughly clean your floors before applying it. Otherwise, any dirty spots will get sealed into the refinished surface and look ugly forever. Ask me how I know.
I suggest not just vacuuming and mopping your floors but also feeling around with your fingers for any rough dried patches of gunk that need removing. Be sure to remove anything on top of the floors like furniture and rugs.
Step 2: Brush solution around edges and corners
This Rejuvenate wood floor refinisher is a very thin product and splashes easily, so I recommend always opening the bottle and tipping it upside down to dispense it in the middle of your floors to keep it from splashing up on your baseboards or walls.
Then, take a brush and apply the solution along the edges and corners of the floor. This will help you keep your mop away from the edges later to prevent getting the product on baseboards and doors.
Step 3: Mop solution on floors
The Rejuvenate instructions will tell you to dispense the product on your floors in an S-shape, but I think that’s mostly to help prevent splatters. As long as you can get it on your floors to work with, you’re good.
Then, use your microfiber mop to sweep the solution across your floors, making sure to pull the product toward you rather than pushing it toward the walls, which can again cause splattering. Once your mop’s microfiber pad becomes saturated enough, you’ll be able to work the solution into the edges without the risk of splashing.
Apply in overlapping strokes, working with the grain of the wood. Be sure to leave yourself an exit at the end of the room and work towards it so that you don’t find yourself stuck in the middle of a wet floor.
Step 4: Apply additional coats as needed
After 45 minutes of dry time, you can apply additional coats for more shine and protection. I suggest only walking on it with socks at this point, as it’s not fully cured.
I applied two coats of Satin on my kitchen floors above, and you can see how the floors went from dull and scratched (left) to smooth with a soft glow (right).
Step 5: Let dry, and enjoy your restored floors!
Allow your newly refinished floors to cure for 24 hours before replacing furniture and rugs and resuming normal use.
And that’s it! This is truly the simplest way to restore scratched hardwood floors, and I use it in all of my room projects now. I hope it works just as well for you!
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