How to Fix Scratches on Your Vinyl Plank Flooring

When you want the look of hardwood floors without the expense, vinyl plank flooring provides a great choice. Often referred to as luxury vinyl, vinyl plank flooring is a cost-effective and fashionable choice for the home or office but over time, it can get scratched from daily wear and tear.

Fortunately, repairing simple scratches in vinyl plank flooring is fast, easy, and inexpensive. With a few basic supplies, it is easy to buff out scratches and restore the original shine of the flooring. If you are considering installing vinyl plank flooring in the home, it is a good idea to keep a handful of extra planks on-hand as replacement pieces in case patching the vinyl plank flooring is necessary.

Repairing Vinyl Plank Scratches

What You’ll Need

To fix a scratch in vinyl plank flooring, a few basic supplies are needed. You can purchase all of these inexpensively at a local home improvement center.

• Dish Detergent
• P320 Sand Paper
• P500 Sand Paper
• P800 Sand Paper
• Car Wax
• Clean Cloth

Clean the Floor

Before any repairs can be made, a deep cleaning of the floor is imperative. Any surface dirt needs lifted from the floors. A simple mixture of dish soap and warm water will cut through any dirt and grease. Add a quarter cup of dish detergent to a bucket of warm water. Use a sponge to get a deep-down clean. Any dirt left behind in the scratch will prevent a proper repair. After scrubbing the affected area, allow the floor to dry thoroughly.

Wax the Floors

A little car wax acts as an effective buffing agent to restore the original shine of the vinyl material. Take a quality car wax and a clean rag, working the wax into the scratch in circles. Fill the entire scratch with the wax, carefully wiping away any excess wax from the vinyl surrounding the area. After waxing, take a clean cloth and rub it gently over the area, ensuring a smooth and consistent finish.

Prevent Damage with Floor Protectors

Fixing small scratches in vinyl plank flooring is easy but there are a few simple steps that can prevent damage to the floors in the first place. Prevent dining chairs from scratching floors as they are pushed in and out by adding felt or silicone floor protectors beneath each of the feet. Not only do they help the chair to slide quietly, they also provide protection for the vinyl flooring beneath. If you have a larger sitting area, such as a living room, using a large area rug to ground the space and provide a layer of protection for furniture feet is helpful.

The simple process of fixing vinyl plank scratches in your floor should take a matter of minutes from start to finish and uses just a couple of supplies. When complete, the scratch should no longer be visible, the finish should still be intact, and the area should be smooth to the touch.