Hardwood, with its warm organic colors and natural feel, is popular with homeowners for a reason. It is the most sought after flooring material and instantly raises the value of any property it is attached to. However, hardwood’s singular flaw is its propensity for displaying damage in the form of scratches and scrapes. Avoiding this issue is difficult to impossible, particularly for homeowners with kids and pets.

However, there is good news. In the vast majority of cases, hardwood damage can be treated and repaired with a little bit of handiwork, extending the life of your floor significantly. The secret to this technique is surprising and, to be perfectly honest, a little nutty.

Walnuts, to be precise. Indeed, the snack nut available at your local grocer can be used to fill in scratches and restore damaged hardwood to its original pristine state. Let’s take a look at the steps necessary to pull of this miracle:

• Get a walnut. It must be raw and not treated (candied, spiced, etc) in any way. Any regular ol’ walnut will do.
• Clean the affected area of flooring and then rub the walnut over the damaged area. You will have the greatest effect if you rub in the same direction as the wood grain.
• Brush over the area lightly, your fingers will do just fine.
• Let the area sit for five minutes. This allows the walnut’s natural oils to soak into the wood and fill out the scratch.
• Finish the job by buffing the area with a soft cloth, building up a nice shine.

If you follow these simple steps, you should be able to remove even the most stubborn of scratches and restore your floor to its original beauty. If you are interested in learning more tips and tricks to care for your floor, or you have any additional questions about flooring in general, we invite you to contact us at 800-689-9006 or email us at sales@flooring.org. Nobody knows floors like us!