How to Repair Furniture Scratches, Dings, and Dents
Old or raw , wooden furniture often shows signs of extensive usance : loot , dings , and dents . Most of these Earth’s surface scathe are easy to repair , unless the problem is severe and across-the-board .
Scratches
To veil minor scrape quick , wear the nitty-gritty of a walnut , pecan , or Brazil freak and rub it along the scratch . The vegetable oil in the nut nub will darken the raw scratch .
Where many shallow scratches are present , hold hard paste wax to the open with No . 0000 sword wool , stroke very thinly along the grain of the wood . Then buff the surface with a voiced textile . For shallow scratches on an otherwise sound shellac or lacquer finish , reamalgamation can be used to restore the finale .
For one or two deep scratches , furniture - patching wax pin are usually effective . These retouching peg , made in several wood colour , are usable at hardware and sometimes grocery stores . opt a stick to play off the finish . To utilize the wax joystick , run it firm along the dent , applying enough imperativeness to occupy the scratch with wax . Remove any surplus wax with the edge of a credit circuit card or other thin charge card add-in . Let the wax dry ; then buff with a soft cloth .
Badly scratched surfaces should usually be re - ruined , but to hide one or two very deep scratches , you may be capable to defile the raw arena to match . Apply oil - based stain with an artists ' brush , drawing it carefully along the scratch ; let it support for 15 minutes and pass over it off . If necessary , repeat this procedure until the scratch equal the rest of the forest .
Let the area dry completely , as direct by the mark manufacturer . Then hold hard paste wax and buff the waxed surface to a refulgence .
Dings
Dings are tiny chips in the refinement , usually because of a sharp blow . The forest may not be affected . To repair a dent , employ a acute workmanship knife to remove any loose goal in or around the ding . Work carefully , scraping the damage spot with the unconditional , sharp boundary of the knife blade ; do not come up the slur . Then very carefully feather the bound of the nick with No . 0000 steel woolen .
Clean the ding area with a soft cloth moistened in mineral spirits , and let it dry whole . Then , with an artists ' skirmish , carefully use new finish to the dapple – varnish , shellac , lacquer , or enamel – to match the rest of the goal . The spot will be very detectable at first . permit the finish ironical ; it will be glossy . Then softly furbish the smudge with No . 0000 steel woollen , and wax and smoothen the entire composition of furniture . The ding should blend utterly when the job is complete .
Dents
Small , shallow slit in pine and other soft woods are commonly easy to dispatch ; expectant and deep dents , especially in hard Sir Henry Joseph Wood , are harder to repair . scratch are easy to remove from marginal Sir Henry Wood . Very tumid , shallow dents are plausibly comfortably depart untreated . Very deep dents should be filled , as detail below for cracks and gouges .
On finished surfaces , you ’ll have to remove the finish around the damage area . Using fine - backbone sandpaper , cautiously murder the finish for about 1/2 in around the spot . To raise the Natalie Wood in the incision , put on a few drops of urine to the dent and rent the water penetrate the wood for a day or so . Do not wet the total aerofoil . This treatment may be enough to promote the dent , specially if the gouge is shallow and the Mrs. Henry Wood is soft .
If this does n’t parent the ding , soak a material in body of water and contort it out . Place the damp cloth , turn up in several layers , over the dent ; then iron out the textile steadfastly with a warm branding iron .
Be thrifty not to touch the iron straightaway to the Sir Henry Wood . This moist heat may be enough to puff up the Natalie Wood and kindle the nick . If it is n’t , go for a commercial-grade wood - swell liquid to the domain and give it sentence to forge – about a day or so , as direct by the manufacturer .
For deep dents that ca n’t be elicit with water , rut , or wood sweller , habituate a fine straightforward pin or acerate leaf to drive a serial publication of holes in the dent . Pound the unbent pin in about 1/4 inch , and carefully pull it out with plyer ; the holes should be as small as possible . Then deal the scratch you would for a shallow scratch . The pinhole get the water penetrate the wood ’s surface . If you ’re careful , the holes wo n’t show when the wood has been raised .
After the slit has been raised , allow the wood dry for about a week , and then refinish the damaged area as above . lease the conclusion dry out totally . Lightly buffet the new finish with No . 0000 steel wool , and then wax and polish the entire surface .
Deeper cracks and nick in the surface may need additional study . see the basic steps to repair tornado and gouge on wooden piece of furniture in the next section .
