Repair A Scratch In Your Table Like A Pro
That first nasty scratch; whether it's on the door of your new car or on the top of
your new table, nothing is more aggravating or disappointing. In spite of how
beautiful the furniture is overall, when you look at it, all you see is the scratch. In
your mind, the scratch is all your guests see, too.
How can you make the scratch less noticeable without going to the expense of a
completel refinishing? There are three techniques that homeowners can use to
easily touch up a scratch in furniture. The supplies needed are easy to find and
the methods are simple to learn.
Invisible to the Casual Observer
The goal is to repair the scratch well enough so that it does not draw attention to
itself; you want the scratch repair to go unnoticed by your guests. In the furniture
retouching trade, such repairs are said to be invisible to the casual observer.
That is, close inspection will reveal that a repair has been made, but the
otherwise the repair goes unnoticed.
A Natural-looking Repair
The simplest way to achieve a satisfactory repair is to mimic the natural
markings in the wood grain. Mineral streaks, small knots, grain and color
variations, sap pockets, and flecking give each cut of wood a unique personality.
Matching the repair to the color of the grain or other markings rather than the
overall color of the wood stain, you can achieve a more natural look.
Acrylic Artist Paint Technique
From your local art supply or craft store, purchase several small artist brushes, a
small bottle of clear flat liquid acrylic, and four tubes of acrylic artist paint: raw
sienna, burnt sienna, raw umber and burnt umber. With these four colors you can
match almost any wood grain.
Now for the fun part: matching the color. Take a piece of cardboard or a paper
plate to use as a palette, an squeeze a small amount of the four colors onto the
plate . To mix your color for a dark wood, start with either umber and gradually
lighten the color by mixing in one of the siennas. For a light wood, start with raw
sienna and then mix in a darker color A few minutes of trial and error will bring
you to an acceptable color. The color will darken as it dries, so make your final
color slightly lighter than what you want.
When you are happy with the color, apply a small amount of color to the scratch.
If the color match is not right, wipe out the color while its still wet and try again.
Artist acrylic paint takes a while to dry, so you don't have to rush. When the
repair dries, paint over the scratch with the liquid flat acrylic. The flat sheen will
reflect less light and make the scratch less noticeable.
The Crayon Technique
Colored wax repair sticks are commonplace; they can be found in almost any
paint store. The problem with these sticks is that they only come in a few colors,
and its difficult to find ones that will match wood grain. This problem can be
overcome if you remember that these sticks are just wax, like a Crayola crayon.
Crayons come in many more colors, and work do as good a job as the furniture-
repair wax sticks. With deep scratches, a crayon is your best choice for repair.
In addition to the crayon or wax stick, you will need a piece of stiff plastic (an old
credit card works fine), some naptha (lighter fluid) a rag, and some 0000 grade
steel wool.
Rub the wax stick or crayon into the scratch, overfilling slightly. With the credit
card, scrape off the excess wax until the scratch is level with the surface. To
remove the excess wax from around the scratch, dampen the rag with the
naptha, and clean around the edges. Naptha is benign and will not harm the
finish. If you inadvertently scuffed the surface when scraping with the credit card,
buff over the scuffs with the 0000 steel wool, buff in in the direction of the wood
grain.
The Touchup Marker Technique
Touchup markers by Minwax and Guardian are available at most paint
storesMarkers made specifically for touching up firniture can be purchase at
most paint or hardware stores. These markers are similar to Magic Markers but
they are filled with furniture stain rather than ink. These markers have wide felt
applicator tips. Usually, these tips are much wider than a scratch, and
sometimes make scratches more obvious rather than less obvious.
The correct way to use one of these markers is to rub the marker along the
length of the scratch until the color fills the scratch. Then, quickly lick your finger
and rub the excess stain from around the scratch. This technique will minimize
the scratch and not make a mess on your furniture.
These three techniques will enable you to make acceptable repairs to most
scratches on your furniture. You will still know where the scratch is, but chances
are your guests wont.
by: Wayne Jordan
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