Repair wood furniture

Interventions on scratched furniture

To repair a piece of furniture reducing the scratches on the surface, keep in mind the type of wood it is made of, and always follow the direction of the grain. Here are some practical ways.
Walnut: remove the kernels from a fresh walnut. Break it in half and rub the scratch with the side that has been broken.
Mahogany: you can go on the scratch with a dark brown crayon or with dark solid wax.

Red mahogany: apply some common iodine with a brush.
Maple: mix iodine and denatured alcohol in equal parts and apply with a cotton swab. Dry it up, past the wax and polish.
Ebony: use shoe black polish or a black pencil (excellent the one for makeup).
Teak: rub very gently with steel wool soaked in linseed oil and turpentine in equal parts.
Polished light wood: the scratches can be masked using a light brown shoe polish (only if the wood is polished).
Small scratches: cover them generously with Vaseline. Let it sit for 24 hours over the scratch, then rub until it has been absorbed and remove the excess. Then polish.
Large scratches: rub over some shellac (available in all colors in paint shops) with a brush or a pastel color of the same color of the wood.

Remove wax drops

To remove candle wax from wood surfaces, soften it with a blow dryer. Remove it with a tissue and wash the surface with a solution of water and vinegar.

Reduce wood dents

To repair dents or deep scratches on the wood, you can intervene as soon as you can by padding the area with cotton wool soaked in boiling water or by passing the iron over a damp cloth resting on the part to be repaired. Repeat several times.

The scratches that are not very deep, can be equalized bridging the indentation with the paint dissolved by passing a cloth dipped in turpentine. The deepest ones must be plastered with wood pulp, shellac or wax, treated with paint and then polished.

Remedy cigarette burns on the furniture

You can try to remedy a cigarette burn with wax. Preliminarily scrape off with a razor blade the scorched part. Heat up the blade of a knife and let the sealing wax melt on it.

Spread it on the damaged part. Or make a paste of powdered Tripoli (you can find it at paint shops) and olive oil.

Wipe it exclusively on the scorched part, following the grain of the wood. Then past a cloth soaked in oil and dry with another cloth, then apply the product usually used to polish the furniture. Before acting, however, assess the value of the piece: it might be better to turn to a professional.

Eliminate water spots from furniture

It often happens to leave water spots on the furniture with bottles or glasses, in this case rub the stain with a damp cloth and a little bit of toothpaste. If the stain is resistant, add baking soda to the toothpaste.

Another way is to apply on the stain, for about ten minutes, a mixture of table salt and olive oil. To remove the signs left by circular glasses on furniture you can also set fire to a drop of alcohol poured on the stain. In a few seconds the flame is able to eliminate the stain but the surface, as a result, needs to be polished.

Care of antique furniture

The furniture of a certain value should be dusted often, using a brush for the shaped portions and the notches, trying to avoid the normal products for furniture using specific ones.

If the furniture is dirty, clean it with a solution of water and three teaspoons of vinegar for every pint, using a chamois cloth and well wrung out. A couple of times a year you need to polish the piece of furniture with beeswax or cream for antique furniture. Polish it only when the wood is dry.

Clean the walnut furniture

For a perfect cleaning of furniture in walnut sprinkle it with a clean cloth or brush, then pass them quickly with a folded cloth soaked in fresh milk. Rub vigorously with a woolen cloth.

Hot air stripper

To quickly and easily remove paint, use a heat gun. Keep the mouth of the tool about 5 cm from the paint. When the paint begins to soften and swell, scrape it off with a spatula or with a scraper in the direction of the fibers. If you work around the window frames, be careful not to overheat the glass: it could burst.

Precautions for removing paint

When using the heat gun for removing paint do not spread out newspapers to protect the floors: they could catch fire easily with boiling pieces of paint coming off.
Keep on hand a bucket of water and wear protective gloves. Scrape always with the blade tilted.

Repaint furniture

Wash the furniture thoroughly with water and detergent, and if possible remove the paint. Then pass it with sandpaper and to white it treat it with bleach and water, brushing in the direction of the grain. Let dry, if necessary plaster it and sand it again.
If the furniture is very old apply a coat of insecticide before the covering paint, but if it is new, give a coat of sealer to form an insulating layer.

Give the first coat of paint, let it dry and pass it with sandpaper, so that the second coat of paint adheres well. Before applying the second coat dust well.

Lighten the wood

To lighten unpainted wood you can use normal bleach. While working wear protective gloves and safety glasses. The bleach is used diluting 15 ml (1 tablespoon) in 1 liter of cold water. The application is carried out with a swab. After a few minutes you pass with a damp cloth.

Lacquer furniture

To treat wood furniture with shellac proceed as follows. Roll out with the gummedg pad a first layer of shellac, then work the surface well with very fine sandpaper.
Pass the shellac again taking care to go first along the grain and then making circular movements; while the amount of paint on the pad decreases, increase the pressure on the wood.

Gradually decrease the amplitude of the circular movements and make sure that the gummed pad is dry before wetting it again. If it gets a little sticky, apply a little linseed oil.

Pumicing shellac

If the furniture treated with shellac looks too shiny, you can mitigate the effect by using pumice. Spread a little pumice powder on the surface and brush in the direction of the grain for two or three times, using a brush for clothes or for shoes.
When the excess gloss is gone, remove the pumice powder with a cloth and pass the beeswax on the wood surface.

Adjust the magnetic catches

When magnetic locks that we find on many doors hold with excessive strength these moving parts and prevent an easy opening, first try to turn the screw of the plate to try an optimal adjustment. If the attempt is successful, apply a strip of tape on the plate to limit the magnetic adhesion.

Improve the interior of drawers

If the interior of the drawers is rather rough, smooth the wood with glass paper, using first the coarse-grained side and then the finer one. Alternatively the line the drawer with a self adhesive coating, such as washable paper, or with felt or velvet if you storethere delicate garments.