Fixing door and trim scratches?

[Wood-chip]

I'm just wondering what all you would recommend for repairing all the scratches that are on the doors and trim in our house. Our house is 25 years old and the previous owners and their kids didn't do it any favors. I'd like to start "reconditioning" it but am unsure what the best method is. I'm considering just going over the original finish with new polyurethane. If this is the recommended method, how do I effectively clean the old finish prior to coating?

I believe the original finish is polyurethane as alcohol and laquer thinner don't dissolve it. Whatever I do I want to add an additional layer of protection.

Thanks in advance.

[Restorer]

1. clean with mineral spirits
2. lightly sand with 220
3. wipe down with mineral spirits
4. stain the scratches to match as good as possible
5. recoat with your poly.

[K. L. McReynolds]

A lot of houses in this area(I'm in KCK) were built by builders who used lacquer on the trim. That is especially true for light colored trim.

When I dealt with your problem(animal scratches especially), I would just sand away the scratches where possible, clean with lacquer thinner, and reapply lacquer(spray cans for most spot repairs).

If the scratches were too deep to sand away, replacing the trim was necessary.

[woodgrain]

Sounds like and excuse to by an open face drum sander.

[mike4244]

Any clear finish will make the scratches show up more.Sand or scrape out the scratches.Stain and clear coat with shellac,or varnish or even lacquer,what ever you like.
mike

[daveferg]

Just another approach----You might check out some of the colored wood fillers by Minwax and other brands to see if you can get a close match---than sand to smooth and touch up with whatever you think was the original clear coat.