Repairing Wood Furniture

Editor: bjennings

Whether through daily wear or the random accident, there are many easy ways to repair damage to your wood furniture.

Introduction

No matter how careful a person is, it is inevitable that accidents will occur. In order to help preserve the pristine quality of your wood furniture, there are many simple techniques you can employ to counter-act minor furniture damage.

Before You Do It Yourself

Contact the furniture company who manufactured the product. Often times, they will have touch-up pens that match the exact color of the wood so that you won’t have to treat with a possibly less than exact match. Also, another choice is to look in the Yellow Pages for a furniture medic. They usually charge an average of fifty dollars an hour with a minimum two hour appointment. These are great options if you don’t consider yourself too handy.

Repairing Wood Furniture

Alcohol Stains, Paint Stains, and Water Rings: Alcohol stains are problematic, as they often lift the varnish or shellac if they are allowed to stand for even a small amount of time. Make sure to wipe up the spills immediately. If the damage is extremely minor, treating it with boiled linseed oil, moistened cigar ash, paste wax, or silver polish may do the trick. Make sure to rewax afterwards. Another possibility is household ammonia. Apply a few drops to a damp cloth and then gently rub the problem area – small circular motions work best. Once again, rewax once the spot has been treated.

For alcohol stains that have been left to sit, combine rottenstone and a few drops of either boiled linseed oil or lemon oil. This should make a cream. Apply this cream gently to the wood, trying to go with the grain. For harsher abrasives, use powdered pumice instead of rottenstone.

For paint stains, begin by using a liquid-solvent based wax. Do not use paint remover. Rub the spot carefully. If the paint is dry, use boiled linseed oil to soften the paint first. If the stain persists, you may use the same methods as difficult alcohol stains.

For grey filmy water rings, you have several decent choices. You can rub the spot with a lint-free cloth saturated with camphorated oil, wiping with a dry cloth after. You can place a clean, thick blotter over the ring and press repeatedly with warm iron, also. Finally, you can add a few drops of ammonia to a container of hot water, dip a cheesecloth into the mixture, wring out thoroughly, and then rub lightly.

Burns: The first step in repairing burn damage to wood furniture is removing any charred material. Dip a cotton swab in paint remover and rub the area for minor burns. Treat with clear fingernail polish to fill the depressed area, using only one or two drops before letting the surface sit. Repeat this process until the area is even with the rest of the wood. Depending on the size of the burn mark, it’s possible that the nail polish’s shine may be slightly off in comparison to the rest of the surface.

For more difficult burns, you may have to scrape with a knife or razor blade to remove the blackened area. Clean the area afterwards with a cotton swab dipped in turpentine. To smooth any rough edges use a small piece of steel wool followed by sand paper or emery board. Apply a similar stain color with a small brush, letting it stand and reapplying until the colors match. Be careful to make sure this new stain only covers the blemish.

Hairline Cracks and Scratches: Although refinishing the surface is the surest method to solving this problem, waxing can be a temporary solution. After the wax has dried, rub the filled cracks with a cloth dipped in turpentine, this will remove any white lines that may appear due to the hardened wax. Remove wax from any crevices as well. Finally, wash with mild soap and warm water, drying with a lint-free cloth afterwards. Rewax.

Minor scratches may be treated by applying paste wax. If this does not conceal the scratches, you may color them with brown coloring crayon or liquid shoe dye. You can also use half a brazil nut, butternut, or black walnut, rubbing it into the mark. Iodine is also a good choice, as the color can be lightened both by age and also by mixing the iodine with denatured alcohol.

Ink Stains: Ink stains are very difficult as they penetrate the wood quickly. Quickly blot up any ink stain and then immediately clean with a cream wax, but don’t rub it in, instead keep turning the cloth and dabbing to prevent smearing. You may use the same methods as cleaning alcohol stains with rottenstone if this does not do the trick. For more difficult stains, use an oxalic acid solution. Apply only a few drops and let it stand for a few minutes as the solution takes time to work. It is likely that this treatment will remove some of the natural color.

Categories: Furniture | Do-It-Yourself