Best Way to Repair Scratches on Wood Furniture

I can't be the only i who tries cool net hacks, only to be disappointed. And then today I tested five of the most mutual ways to hide scratches on wood furniture to come across which ones really work! Spoiler alarm:

A 1:1 mixture of cooking oil and white vinegar is the nigh effective fashion to remove scratches from wood furniture. Dip a rag in the mixture, and rub information technology on the scratch. Allow the mixture to sit for 1-two minutes earlier wiping abroad excess liquid.

Don't have cooking oil or white vinegar on paw? Go along reading!

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Experiment Methodology

So starting time, lets talk a scrap about what a scratch actually is.

Scratches occur when something scrapes away the terminate and top layer of wood. This exposes the unstained/unfinished wood underneath, which is frequently a unlike color and therefore really obvious to see.

Therefore, the goal of any scratch repair is to stain the underlying wood, and if possible, fill up in the scratch/dent.

All the methods tested are therefore intended to stain the woods underneath.

I purchased an stop tabular array that'd seen better days from my local goodwill for about $2. Note that this end table was finished with forest end, so when I was testing, I didn't take to worry about my solutions staining the surrounding wood.

If yous're working with unfinished wood (if y'all're not sure, information technology's probably finished,) you'll need to be a fleck more than careful not to stain the surrounding woods. I practical everything with a rag, you might need to apply with a cotton swab for more precision.

(If something does happen to go wrong, check out my post on fixing wood stain mistakes!)

As a thorough individual, I scratched the stop table up a scrap more than just to make certain I had enough of scratches to test on.

I tested five unlike hacks:

• A Walnut
• Blackness Tea
• Java Grounds
• Iodine
• Oil and Vinegar

I wish I could say I was super methodical, and gave each attempt two minutes to sit earlier giving upwards on it. I didn't, simply I don't call back it really mattered. If you're actually curious, y'all tin can watch the whole experiment in-activeness in this Youtube video.

Method 1: Walnut

The walnut method goes something like this: accept a walnut, scissure information technology in one-half, and rub the inside of the walnut on your scratch. Theoretically, the walnut oil both stains and expands the woods, filling the crack and blending information technology with the surrounding forest.

This method actually worked pretty well, although it took a few minutes for the walnut oil to actually stain the wood. When I start looked at the scratch, I thought it was mediocre, just five minutes later the scratch was barely visible at all!

Method 2: Black Tea

I brewed a loving cup of blackness tea (and by brewed, I mean I heated some water in the microwave until it was boiling, and so added a teabag.) I made it as strong every bit I could; the teabag sat in the hot water indefinitely, which was at to the lowest degree 20 minutes while I got everything set for the experiment.

Before applying the tea, I stirred it a bit to make certain the tea was thoroughly dispersed throughout the water.

Then I dipped a rag into the tea, and applied it to the stain.

AND… nothing happened.

Similar, the forest got wet. That was it.

I unfortunately didn't have a moving-picture show of the unchanged earlier and after, but you can check out the Youtube video if you're really determined to see it.

Spoiler alarm: the scratch looks exactly the aforementioned.

Method 3: Coffee Grounds

For the coffee ground method, I grabbed some instant coffee grounds, and mixed them with water to make a paste.

So I used my fingers to apply the paste to the scratch.

This wasn't a complete bust – the coffee grounds definitely made the scratch a little darker. Just it was still visible, fifty-fifty from far away.

Comparatively, walk a few feet away, and you can't run across the scratch that I practical walnut to at all.

Method iv: Iodine

This method works exactly how you'd think: take a rag, dip in in some iodine, then rub the iodine onto the scratch. Theoretically, the iodine should stain the woods, although I don't recall there'southward any reason the wood would expand to fill the scratch.

Similar the coffee grounds, this method wasn't totally ineffective. The scratch is a little flake darker, simply it'southward still pretty easy to see.

This method is fine, but I'm not shouting at yous to go buy a matter of iodine in order to hide all your wood scratches.

Method v: Oil and Vinegar

I'll acknowledge, I was really skeptical of this method. In theory, the oil expands the wood to fill up the hole, while the vinegar stains it. The cyberspace (and this article) accept treated oil like some kind of magical wood expander, but honestly, the wood shrinks back downwardly subsequently the oil evaporates, and so I've been a skeptic.

I shouldn't take been. This method is magic.

I mixed a tablespoon of canola oil with a tablespoon of white vinegar. You can probably utilize any cooking oil y'all've got, and the amount y'all mix upwards doesn't really matter, as long as y'all have a ane:i ratio of each.

Oil and vinegar don't really mix that well (adding to my skepticism,) simply whatever, just get with it.

And so dip a rag in the mixture, and utilise it to the scratch. Here'south what my scratch looked like beforehand:

Here's what information technology looked like later on:

As you can see, it's barely visible. It hasn't disappeared completely; if you run your finger over the scratch, you can feel it.

But from a few feet away, the scratch is almost invisible!

Special note: I've heard that this method tin be repeated over and over again until you go the desired event (for case, if your wood is really dark.) I evidently found this unnecessary, but it's an option if this method isn't doing plenty for yous.

Final Results

Obviously, the oil and vinegar method was the clear winner. And just for the tape, I tested information technology a couple more than times on other scratches just to confirm it wasn't a fluke, along with my second identify winner… the walnut!

Both did a pretty good task of hiding the scratch so it was barely visible. The oil and vinegar did a better job, but if all you accept is a walnut, and your super judgy friends volition be at your house in an hour, the walnut volition exist good enough.

The coffee grounds and the iodine did something, merely honestly, the scratch was still really visible, so I wouldn't waste your fourth dimension with those unless they really are your merely options.

And the black tea was worthless. Movement on.

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