Modern hardwood flooring finish systems consist of several layer of urethane and aluminum oxide (AO). AO is the same material that is used to make sandpaper. It is a very tough and is added to the finish system to extend the durability of the urethane. After the finish system is applied it is baked on to the hardwood in a specialized UV oven. It is very difficult to walk through the AO layer but it does have one flaw. If the finish is scratched deeply the AO will show as an unsightly white line. This is often perceived as a scratch in the wood flooring, but that is often not the case, it is merely showing the presence of AO.
Because of the specialized nature of the application process there is currently no easy fix when it comes to AO scratch repair with one exception, ORANGE OIL.
Any product that contains orange oil will work including commonly found wood polish (e.g. Orange-Glo) products at big-box stores.
This simple repair process, along with some pics illustrating the deliberate mutilation of an AO flooring finish system on strand woven bamboo, is detailed in the following pics.
The first pic shows the damage done by a hammer and a nail to the left of the black line. The area to the right of the black line was wiped with Orange Glo.
In this pic, both sides of the board were wiped with Orange Glo. Notice that the pic is a close-up of the bamboo flooring. If this damaged board was in the middle of a floor you would be hard-pressed to spot the damage.
