How to remove scratches on the laminate?

Laminate flooring is one of the most popular floor coverings; lately, they have increasingly been covering rooms, corridors, and even kitchens and public spaces. He has several positive qualities: reliability, durability, pleasing to the eye appearance. But over time, he, like other floor coverings, wears out. Also, there are various unexpected situations, after which defects appear on the floor, from which I would like to get rid of urgently. You need to choose for yourself the most appropriate way to remove scratches on the laminate.

• Small flaws have all chances to appear because of the elements of dust and sand of small size.They will not harm the internal basis of the material, but over time will distort the appearance and reduce the protective qualities of the coating;
• Deeper dents and scratches are formed by heels, other shoes with hard soles, as well as from the claws of your pets and the fall of various objects. In this case, it is necessary to start the splitting of the chip as soon as possible, since there is a possibility of moisture penetration into the board and further damage to the laminate.
• The most significant damage occurs after the installation of furniture, its movement. Very often, damage occurs at the workplace or the dining table, as the chairs constantly move, and because of this they can scratch the floor. In all these cases, it is much more difficult to correct the situation.

There are several ways to hide scratches.

Wax pencil (chalk) is among the most simple to use and low cost materials. It has many different shades that will allow you to easily choose the necessary for you. Helps in extending coverage life. It can be stored for a long time and is easy to operate, but it can cope with only minor, but noticeable scratches.

If the damage is more significant, then you can use the paste. There are several types of putty, which differ in consistency, and therefore in the way they work with them. So, pastes are hard (they are sold by briquettes), pasty (they are stored in tubes) and powdered. When choosing a paste, it is better to bring a small sample of laminate to the store in order to make it easier to choose a color scheme. If you want to restore the pattern, you will have to take a few shades.

For people who do not have much free time, there is a special repair kit. It consists of a spatula, pencil and putty (grout), but depending on the manufacturer, the equipment may vary. It is recommended to buy such a kit immediately after purchasing the cover itself, so that you do not have to urgently look for it in stores.

If the above methods are not suitable for you, you can use hot mastic or natural wax. The latter is blended with a matching shoe polish. Acrylic lacquer can also be used for laminate flooring. With it, scratches are removed from the glossy laminate.Varnish must be carefully applied to the area with damage, it is not recommended to go beyond it.

Thanks to the pencil, small gaps and light abrasions can be easily and time-consuming to fix with your own hands. Due to the fact that in any store there is a fairly wide range of colors, problems with the selection of colors will not arise.

You can wipe the defects on both light and dark laminate without any hassle:

• Carefully clean the damaged area of ​​litter and the smallest particles;
• Wipe the surface with a dry soft cloth to get rid of unnecessary debris;
• Paint over the rubbing surface of the wax crayon;
• Wipe excess material with light movements. Do not overdo it, otherwise erase the entire tool. Then you have to re-do all the work.

Thanks to the paste, you can repair the floor yourself at home. No matter what the structure of the putty, when working requires special care and attention. During the restoration of the floor with the help of hard pastes, it is worth paying attention to the texture and color: in order to achieve the desired shade, you may have to purchase a couple of briquettes of different colors.Relatively liquid grout is packaged in plastic tubes, which have a wide range in terms of volume.

The method of using pastes is as follows:

• Clean the surface, dry thoroughly;
• Gently cover the scratches on the laminate;
• If the grout is hard, then wipe the excess with a sponge of soft material and sand the desired area hard. If the paste is more viscous, then you need to clean the place of repair with a slightly moistened sponge, then - with a rag.
• Leave until it dries. The treated area should dry in a couple of hours. The paste can also be used to remove small dents (if they are very light, then wax crayon will do).

Depending on what is included in the repair kit, there are different ways to fix the coating. It is also possible to correct defects of different levels of complexity without spending time searching for several means. The principle of operation depends on the tool you are using. This is described elsewhere in this section. It is recommended to glue strips of construction tape before applying the agent around the defect. They do not allow excess material to get on the floor.

There is also another way to repair damage on a laminate - superhard wax, which is sometimes included in the repair kit.

This operation should be performed using a special melter:

• Sharpen the edges of the scratch with the sharp edge of the spatula to eliminate all the notches;
• Clean and degrease the site;
• Pick up the wax in consistency with Kohler; if you want to restore the picture, you will have to take a few shades;
• Preheat the melter (in the case when the wax has smoked, it is necessary to cool the melter);
• Fill the chip with a small excess, because after drying the wax "sets";
• Wait 30 seconds and remove the remaining ribbed side of the spatula;
• The surface that has just been treated should be sanded with a sponge;
• Lacquer the area in order to enhance the protective properties of the coating.

The main thing to note is that the previously listed methods are temporary and good only when removing small and shallow chips and scratches. It is very important to repair the damage as quickly as possible, because moisture can get inside the material. Then there is a strain that is difficult to eliminate. In this case, it is easier to replace the board with the defect.

If suddenly your apartment is flooded, then almost always (in 90% of cases) the floor in the affected room must be completely covered, especially if you have chosen a cheap laminate. There is only one possible way to keep the material - dismantle and dry thoroughly. But laminate does not always return to its original state.

If the consequences are so strong that the above listed methods do not suit you, then there is only one option left - replacing the board. The closer a lamella with a defect is from the wall, the easier it is to change it. This can be done only with partial dismantling of the floor. If the laminate was assembled using glue, then problems with lamella removal may occur.

First of all, you need to purchase a board of the desired color. Then everything is determined by the type of your laminate. When replacing the castle board, it is necessary to carefully separate the latches in order not to damage them. It is necessary to dismantle the coating from the periphery to the damaged lamella and assemble in the reverse order. If your laminate is mounted with glue, then changing the board to an intact one will take much more time and effort. Often it does not justify the money spent.

There is such an option: to remove the area with the defect and insert a “patch” there, but this method does not allow to achieve the desired result, since it is rather difficult to achieve perfect similarity with the rest of the lamella. But if you still want to use this method, the following is the sequence of actions. For work, you will need a strap of the desired shade, a sealant, a holding device with vacuum suction cups and a grinder for cutting.

• Purchase a laminate of a suitable shade;
• Using a pencil, draw the outline of the required area;
• With the help of the grinder, cut the board according to your drawing;
• Not until the end of the cut areas to modify the chisel and hammer;
• Cut the pieces carefully, so as not to break the locks of adjacent planks, withdraw;
• The plot of the sub floor diligently cleaned of debris;
• On the one side of the new board, remove the lower lock;
• Then remove the side locks;
• Try using the suction cups on the prepared place, and then remove. The main thing - make sure that the new part fits the pattern and size;
• Apply sealant along the periphery of the recess. The main thing - do not overdo it with him, that would not have to then remove a lot of surplus;
• Carefully install and press lamella weights. Glue dries within half an hour, during this time it is impossible to influence this surface in any way;
• After the completed step, carefully remove the glue residue with a spatula. After the glue has been removed, the board should be pressed again with weights and left for 12 hours.

The main thing - keep in mind that no restoration will not help if you improperly operate the flooring. Better initially once again not to load the laminate.

So that you do not have to constantly repair and mask the damage and waste precious time on it, as well as extend its service life, There are several very important rules:

• Laminate is unstable to moisture. When washing floors, do not overdo it with the amount of water, as there is a high risk of deformation of the coating, especially if water gets inside to the very core of the board.
• It is better not to lay low-grade flooring in places where there is a constant risk of damage (in the hallway, nursery, living room). Also, do not save on laminate, poor quality material will become unusable much earlier, and in this case you will have to replace the entire coating again.
• It is recommended to lay a mat at the entrance. Then dirt and dust will not spread further into the room. A rug under the computer desk will prevent wear from rolling the chair on rollers.

• On the legs of furniture, buy or make the lining, thanks to which the floor will be protected from scratches when rearranged.
• It is not recommended to walk on the laminate in heels and in shoes with a hard sole, in order to save it from unnecessary stress.
• If guests frequently appear in your house, then lay a rug. This will add to the interior of your home coziness, as well as extend the life of the flooring.
• Do not use abrasives to clean the laminate. They can cause quite noticeable damage, thereby deteriorating the appearance of the coating. There is also a very unusual and interesting way, which is effective only in cases of inconspicuous micro-damage caused by abrasives and dust. Just put on felt slippers. Their soft soles gently and gently polish the flooring, smooth out small scratches and slightly restore the look of the laminate.

The video below will help you remove scratches on the laminate.