get out pet scratches on hard wood floors?

traichris

does anyone have any recommendations on how to get out pet scratches on hard wood floors without paying $$$ to get them refurbished?

dexteroni

If the finish is scratched off, there is no "getting out" to be done.  Maybe you can stain the scratches so they blend in.  But it sounds like your floors need to be refinished anyway - claws don't normally damage a properly finished and maintained.

onceuponadisaster

Wood putty or a wood crayon could camouflage them for awhile, but it sounds like it's time for a good refinishing. 

Life&Gwen

When water gets on the flooring, (like near the water bowls for us) does it stay beaded up or soak in and make a whitish stain for a few minutes unless you immediately dry it?  If so, your finish is bust, or it's a varnish not a polyurethane or such, and a teensy amount of olive oil on a cotton wash cloth will buff the scratches into the floor...  a very short term fix though...

doctabroccoli

Old English scratch guard makes the scratches blend in better since it's essentially a stain.  That's what I do for ours.  Different woods scratch worse than others, depending on their hardness.  Our cats scratch a 3-year old oak floor quite easily.  Our floors need replaced anyway (unrelated builder issue), so we'll be replacing the oak with either Strand-Woven Bamboo (The Strand-Woven distinction is important) or Brazilian Cherry.  Those are the two hardest types of wood.