Some one painted shellac on the floor to make it shine Now full of flaking and scratches How do you refinish a laminate floor?

You can't refinish it. Laminate is a form of plastic. I'm sorry to say, but your floor is probably ruined beyond repair. You can try to remove the shellac, but be prepared to tear out the floor instead and replace if this doesn't work. I'd try a bit of citrus-based stripper on an inconspicuous area (closet?) - it will easily remove the shellac, but might damage the finish on the floor. (Can't be any worse than what you have now, right?) The citrus-based strippers work just as effectively as harsher chemical strippers, but seem to cause less damage to other materials. I've used it successfully to remove stain and polyurethane from vinyl Windows, with no damage. Once done, clean the floor well with a laminate floor cleaner or window cleaner.