How to Restore & Repair Damaged Wood Texture: 8 DIY Tips
All those beautiful things made of wood can take our breath away. But without proper tender love and care, this natural material starts to look dated and is no more beautiful. Hiring a repair specialist seems to be the easiest way to revive wood pieces. Sometimes the sheer woodworking skills of a reputable pro can win admiration and deserve writing a LinkedIn recommendation. The problem is paying a high price for their services. For instance, repairing your dining table may cost you up to $450, and refinishing it costs up to $3200. If you’ve come into some pieces of antique or vintage furniture left by your great grandparents, then the high cost of materials for restoring and expensive repairs shouldn’t be embarrassing for you. You’ll get the treasurable pieces nurtured back to something truly wonderful re-caned, re-glued, and reupholstered.
For any other case, you may utilize the eight DIY tips on how to restore and repair any solid wooden texture to get its full potential.
#1. Restoring Wood with Natural Ingredients
Natural oil can be effective in finishing wood and adding a kind of soft and rich glow. Linseed oil, tung oil, mineral oil, walnut oil, Danish oil, and coconut oil are natural ingredients that can rehydrate your wood, restoring its natural color. To make woodwork brighter, saturate a soft cloth with natural oil, rub with the grain to apply it to the wood. Then fold the cloth and apply oil to an edge to get in detailed crevices or embellishments on the piece.
#2. Making the Wood Naturally Darken
Sunlight can deteriorate the shiny, glossy color of the wood, leading to discoloration. A combination of balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar with steel wool pads or rusty nails creates a strong, effective yet non-toxic stain that’s good for the environment. But be careful with aging hardwood floors, as the acidic nature of vinegar damages their finishes and causes them to look dingy.
#3. Getting Scratches & Nicks Out of Wood
If wood damage is minor, you can rub out surface scratches with a paste made of mineral oil and pumice in powder form, a solution of lemon juice and cooking oil, vinegar, and canola oil. Use a clean lint cloth and rub firmly in the direction of the scratch until it disappears. Repair scuffs and deeper scratches that expose the wood can be also removed with the meat of almond or walnut. To make damage invisible, color in the scratch using iodine, tea bags, coffee grounds, an eyebrow pencil, or wax crayons.
#4. Repairing Significant Damage
Serious damages may seem like a huge hassle, but repairing them is relatively easy. Many professional furniture restorers prefer to use multi-purpose fillers. A significantly damaged area like a big hole can get covered up with one of them. Apply the filler to the uneven, damaged section, then sand smooth. If you need an even look of wood, just paint the entire piece after that.
#5. Restoring the Initial Layer
A few layers of paint are common for old wooden objects. If there’s no need to make the wood sturdier, peel back damaged or discolored upper layers to use the original beautiful under layered wood instead. Apply a liquid paint stripper spreading it around large areas with a chip brush to create a nice new layer. Scrape it away following the wood structure half an hour later. Sand wood down if an area is small.
#6. Giving a Professional Finish
A smooth finish provides your wood with a professional look but a way to enhance the surface seems easier than it is. To get an even coating you should start with sanding your furniture piece with a coarse grit, and end with fine grit. Take heed to wipe off or vacuum the remaining dust. Fill your sprayer with paint or polish and spray the first coat on your furniture. Wait till the first coat is dry, lightly sand the entire surface with an ultra fine-grit sanding block, and buff thoroughly to get a durable and attractive result.
#7. Handling Holes
At first blush, either pallets or reclaimed wood look good, but nail traces mar the appearance of wood. Try one of the following restoration tricks to fix this. You can either apply glue or add wood stains to the hole. Glue may be preferable as it clamps the hole more firmly. Consider a wood stain to get the authentic wooden texture and color. It’s easy to do with popping in the holes, skewers, caramel apple sticks, or toothpicks, followed by working with an emery cloth to a high polish.
#8. Fixing Watermarks on Wood
Watermarks can be the reason for all your refinish efforts being for nothing. Applying food mayo or petroleum oil right to the mark may be the right solution. If this fails, then a layer of sprayed shellac coating to seal the marks and prevent bleeding through is the best treatment for annoying defects.
Repairing and restoring all sorts of damaged pieces of furniture is possible without hiring a pro. DIY is cheap and easy to use, so as soon as you notice your wooden dining room table is dinged or there’s a ring around the guest-room nightstand, it’s high time to take TLC actions addressing all the issues. And HANDYMAN TIPS provides you with all guides on how to fix up your furniture!