Repairing furniture scratches
We’ve just inherited some of my mother-in-law’s oak dining room furniture. Some of the chairs are pretty scratched up. What’s the best way to fix them?
—LISA BECKLY, TUCSON, AZ
TOH carpenter Nathan Gilbert:
Wood is subject to wear, whether from accidental abrasions, impact from a heavy object, or simply the repetition of regular use. Fortunately, there are a few key products—all readily available at home centers and online—that you can use to make a variety of basic repairs to the finish.
Let’s start with the very light abrasions that can dull a stained finish when furniture gets moved around. If the wood below the surface finish isn’t affected, you can fix this with a liquid scratch remover such as Scratch-Off (mohawkfinishing.com). Pick one in a shade that’s as close to the piece’s color as possible. To start, clean the repair area with a rag dampened in mineral spirits, then pour some of the product onto a clean rag and buff it onto the dulled area. The initial shine you see after buffing will diminish as the liquid dries, making the repair disappear.
Sometimes we’re faced with a stained finish that has) here. It’s best to err on the lighter side, rather than use a stain that might be too dark. You can always apply more coats to deepen the color. If the rest of the piece has a clear coat over the stained finish, you’ll need to use spray lacquer or a wipe-on polyurethane after the stain has dried to help the repair blend in.
