How to Fix Minor Scratches on Wood Furniture

I tin can't be the only 1 who tries cool net hacks, just to be disappointed. And so today I tested v of the most mutual ways to hibernate scratches on wood furniture to see which ones actually piece of work! Spoiler alert:

A 1:1 mixture of cooking oil and white vinegar is the well-nigh effective way to remove scratches from woods furniture. Dip a rag in the mixture, and rub it on the scratch. Allow the mixture to sit for ane-2 minutes before wiping away excess liquid.

Don't accept cooking oil or white vinegar on hand? Keep reading!

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Experiment Methodology

Then offset, lets talk a bit nearly what a scratch actually is.

Scratches occur when something scrapes away the cease and pinnacle layer of wood. This exposes the unstained/unfinished forest underneath, which is ofttimes a different color and therefore really obvious to see.

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

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

I purchased an end table that'd seen meliorate days from my local goodwill for most $2. Note that this end tabular array was finished with woods terminate, so when I was testing, I didn't have to worry most my solutions staining the surrounding forest.

There is plenty of advice for removing scratches from wood furniture on the internet... but does it actually work? I test it out!

If you're working with unfinished wood (if you're not sure, it's probably finished,) you'll need to exist a bit more than careful not to stain the surrounding forest. I applied everything with a rag, you might demand to employ with a cotton swab for more precision.

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

As a thorough private, I scratched the cease table up a bit more just to make sure I had plenty of scratches to test on.

I tested five different hacks:

A Walnut
Blackness Tea
Java Grounds
Iodine
Oil and Vinegar

I wish I could say I was super methodical, and gave each effort 2 minutes to sit before giving up on it. I didn't, just I don't call back information technology really mattered. If y'all're actually curious, you can lookout man the whole experiment in-activity in this Youtube video.

Method ane: Walnut

The walnut method goes something like this: take a walnut, crack it in half, and rub the inside of the walnut on your scratch. Theoretically, the walnut oil both stains and expands the wood, filling the fissure and blending it with the surrounding wood.

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

Method 2: Blackness Tea

I brewed a 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 information technology as strong every bit I could; the teabag sabbatum in the hot water indefinitely, which was at least 20 minutes while I got everything ready for the experiment.

Earlier applying the tea, I stirred it a chip to make sure the tea was thoroughly dispersed throughout the h2o.

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

AND… nothing happened.

Similar, the woods got wet. That was it.

I unfortunately didn't accept a picture of the unchanged before and after, but you can check out the Youtube video if you're really determined to run across it.

Spoiler warning: 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 h2o to make a paste.

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

This wasn't a consummate bosom – the coffee grounds definitely made the scratch a picayune darker. But information technology was still visible, even from far abroad.

Comparatively, walk a few anxiety away, and you can't see the scratch that I applied walnut to at all.

Method 4: Iodine

This method works exactly how you lot'd think: take a rag, dip in in some iodine, and so rub the iodine onto the scratch. Theoretically, the iodine should stain the woods, although I don't call back at that place's any reason the wood would expand to fill up the scratch.

Like the coffee grounds, this method wasn't totally ineffective. The scratch is a lilliputian bit darker, only it's withal pretty like shooting fish in a barrel to see.

This method is fine, but I'm non shouting at you to go purchase a thing of iodine in order to hide all your woods scratches.

Method 5: Oil and Vinegar

I'll admit, I was actually skeptical of this method. In theory, the oil expands the wood to fill the hole, while the vinegar stains information technology. The internet (and this article) have treated oil like some kind of magical wood expander, but honestly, the forest shrinks back down after the oil evaporates, and so I've been a skeptic.

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

I mixed a tablespoon of canola oil with a tablespoon of white vinegar. You can probably use whatever cooking oil you've got, and the amount you lot mix up doesn't actually affair, as long as you have a i:1 ratio of each.

Oil and vinegar don't really mix that well (adding to my skepticism,) merely any, only go with information technology.

Then dip a rag in the mixture, and employ it to the scratch. Here's what my scratch looked like beforehand:

Here'southward what it looked like after:

As you can see, information technology's barely visible. Information technology hasn't disappeared completely; if you run your finger over the scratch, yous can experience information technology.

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

Special note: I've heard that this method can exist repeated over and over once more until you lot get the desired result (for example, if your wood is really dark.) I obviously institute this unnecessary, but it'south an option if this method isn't doing enough for you.

Terminal Results

Obviously, the oil and vinegar method was the articulate winner. And but for the tape, I tested information technology a couple more times on other scratches just to confirm information technology wasn't a fluke, along with my 2d place winner… the walnut!

Both did a pretty proficient job of hiding the scratch so information technology was barely visible. The oil and vinegar did a better task, but if all you have is a walnut, and your super judgy friends will be at your business firm in an hour, the walnut will be good enough.

The coffee grounds and the iodine did something, but honestly, the scratch was all the same really visible, so I wouldn't waste your time with those unless they really are your only options.

And the black tea was worthless. Movement on.