How To Refinish or Fix Mistakes
Unfinished wood furniture started out as a living thing, and it never quite dies. You can always patch and refinish scratches and stains. So you put a fresh coat of varnish over that worn countertop, and, whoa! Suddenly it looks like cottage cheese. Okay, you ruined it, but with wood, nothing is ever really ruined.
Nicks, dings and scratches
The burred edge of a light scratch reflects light differently, and it catches your eye. By smoothing the burr, small scratches disappear. Try using a hard paste wax, applied gently with 0000 (extra fine) steel wool, to smooth it out.
Small dents can often be raised with a few drops of water left to rest in the impression for a day or two. If that doesn't do the trick, try pressing a hot iron on a folded damp cloth over the dent. Don't let the iron touch the finish. Bigger scratches and dings show because the wood stain is scratched out, revealing the lighter natural wood underneath. You can buy narrow stain pens or colored wax sticks for this job. Rub a wax pen firmly down the scratch, then scrape any excess off with a credit card. After it dries, buff it smooth. Old-timers know to crack a walnut or pecan and rub the meat into the crack until the nut oil darkens the wood. If you finished the furniture yourself, do you still have the leftover stain? Dab it in carefully with a toothpick. Perfect! Bigger holes Okay, it's not a scratch, it's a divot. You need to use a wood filler, which comes in basic matching colors. If your wood has a distinct grain, match the filler to the lightest color, then use a stain pen to draw the pattern of the grain across the filler after it dries. Sand it all smooth, then apply a little of the same finish it originally had. Don't know? Here's an educated guess: if it is a flat or satin finish, it's probably varnish. If it is hard, glossy and brittle, it's likely to be lacquer, especially if it's a commercial finish. Dab a test on a hidden spot, because some finishes make others bubble up. Give up? |  |
If all else fails, you can always start over. Finish strippers are available for the job. If the finish isn't thick, skip the stripping and just sand it off. The beauty of unfinished furniture is that you finished it once, so you know what to do the next time.