How To Repair Scratches In Stained Wood

I can't be the only one who tries cool internet hacks, only to be disappointed. And so today I tested five of the most common ways to hibernate scratches on wood furniture to run across which ones actually work! Spoiler alarm:

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

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

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Experiment Methodology

So first, lets talk a bit about what a scratch really is.

Scratches occur when something scrapes away the terminate and top layer of forest. This exposes the unstained/unfinished forest underneath, which is frequently 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 woods underneath.

I purchased an finish tabular array that'd seen better days from my local goodwill for about $ii. Note that this end table was finished with woods finish, so when I was testing, I didn't have to worry nearly 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 lot're not sure, information technology's probably finished,) you'll need to be a bit more than careful non to stain the surrounding woods. I practical everything with a rag, yous might need to employ with a cotton fiber swab for more than precision.

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

As a thorough individual, I scratched the end tabular array upwards a bit more just to make sure I had plenty of scratches to examination on.

I tested 5 different hacks:

A Walnut
Black Tea
Java Grounds
Iodine
Oil and Vinegar

I wish I could say I was super methodical, and gave each attempt two minutes to sit down before giving up on it. I didn't, but I don't recollect information technology really mattered. If you're really curious, you tin sentinel the whole experiment in-activeness in this Youtube video.

Method 1: 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 forest, filling the crack and blending it with the surrounding forest.

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

Method 2: Black Tea

I brewed a cup of blackness tea (and past brewed, I mean I heated some water in the microwave until it was boiling, then added a teabag.) I made it as strong as I could; the teabag sat in the hot water indefinitely, which was at least twenty minutes while I got everything ready for the experiment.

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

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

AND… zilch happened.

Like, the wood got wet. That was it.

I unfortunately didn't have a picture of the unchanged before and later on, but you lot can check out the Youtube video if you lot're actually determined to see it.

Spoiler warning: the scratch looks exactly the same.

Method 3: Coffee Grounds

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

And then I used my fingers to employ the paste to the scratch.

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

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'd recall: take a rag, dip in in some iodine, then rub the iodine onto the scratch. Theoretically, the iodine should stain the wood, although I don't think there'south any reason the wood would expand to make full the scratch.

Like the coffee grounds, this method wasn't totally ineffective. The scratch is a little scrap darker, but it'south still pretty easy to run into.

This method is fine, only I'm not shouting at you lot to go buy a thing of iodine in order to hide all your wood scratches.

Method five: Oil and Vinegar

I'll admit, I was really skeptical of this method. In theory, the oil expands the forest to fill the hole, while the vinegar stains it. The net (and this article) have treated oil similar some kind of magical woods expander, merely honestly, the woods shrinks dorsum down after the oil evaporates, 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. Yous can probably use whatever cooking oil you've got, and the amount you mix upward doesn't really affair, as long as you have a 1:1 ratio of each.

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

And so dip a rag in the mixture, and apply information technology to the scratch. Here's what my scratch looked similar beforehand:

Here's what it looked similar after:

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

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

Special note: I've heard that this method can be repeated over and again until y'all become the desired event (for example, if your forest is really night.) I obviously establish this unnecessary, just it's an option if this method isn't doing enough for you.

Last Results

Evidently, the oil and vinegar method was the clear winner. And only for the record, I tested it a couple more times on other scratches just to confirm it wasn't a fluke, along with my 2nd place winner… the walnut!

Both did a pretty good job of hiding the scratch so it was barely visible. The oil and vinegar did a meliorate job, but if all you take is a walnut, and your super judgy friends will be at your business firm in an hour, the walnut volition be skillful plenty.

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

And the black tea was worthless. Move on.