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Touch-Up Wood Markers by Sharpie

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When's the last time you intentionally wrote on your chair leg or bureau with permanent marker? Unless you're Love Anna James, we're guessing it has probably been a while. But here's an industrial Sharpie marker that you can use to draw out and touch-up scratches, scrapes and dings on wood furniture...

 
 

Sharpie's wood markers are made for touching-up furniture, floors, doors, cabinets, wood trim and picture frames with a few quick strokes. They come in 3 colors- the idea is to start light and then add more strokes or a darker color to blend with oak, cherry, walnut and mahogony woods. We can see these working best on worn edges and on large scratches (we're a bit skeptical about how they would fare on larger surfaces or for white water rings). But faced with the alternative of breaking out the chemicals or shoe polish, these seem worth trying out for small repair jobs, especially on inexpensive furniture.

They're sold in packs of three (or individually) at many DIY stores.

>>> Sharpie's web site

>>> Available online at MisterArt ($3.53 for a package of 3)

Tags

painting, fixing & repair, wood, Sharpie

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Comments (25)

For years, I have used black and brown Sharpies to fill in furniture nicks. Perhaps Sharpie caught wind of this practice (undoubtedly used by many) and decided to make it official.

posted by heather77 on February 19th 2009 at 5:58pm
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Minwax's wood pencils seem like a better idea for actual wood:
http://www.minwax.com/products/wood_maintenance_and_repair/blend_fil_pencil.html

I've used regular black sharpie to touch up cheap black-painted furniture (like my futon frame) and a few dings in the side of some black electronics. It works pretty well, but it doesn't look as glossy as the original finish, of course.

posted by Liana on February 19th 2009 at 5:59pm
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this is brilliant. i use black sharpies to fix all kinds of nicks and scratches in furniture.

posted by tabithacat on February 19th 2009 at 6:01pm
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WOW! BROWN MARKERS!!!

posted by antimatt on February 19th 2009 at 6:01pm
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these are great I use them all the time for touch ups. But the only problem with them is that these markers eventually rub off when you use oil to polish the furniture.

posted by Comicgeek on February 19th 2009 at 6:08pm
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I use a black sharpie to touch up furniture all the time! It works especially well for the edges of my west elm book shelf in the "chocolate" finish.

posted by Laura on February 19th 2009 at 7:10pm
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I may have also used sharpies to touch up the heels of my pumps and sunglasses..

posted by Laura on February 19th 2009 at 7:10pm
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I was going through a buzzed hair phase and one time (OK, more than once) used clippers without putting the guard on first. I shaved out a nice rectangle right on the side of my head! I used a black Sharpie to color it in. Dark brown would've come in handy then.

posted by foxmo on February 19th 2009 at 7:18pm
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foxmo - thats hilarious! Apparently there are many unconventional uses for a sharpie!

posted by Laura on February 19th 2009 at 8:03pm
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Ditto Heather77

posted by bepsf on February 19th 2009 at 8:07pm
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The right colored Sharpie can solve a multitude of problems. My favorite is to "black out" offensive logos on clothing and shoes, but I have also used just them on furniture and upholstery for years.

posted by madsarah on February 19th 2009 at 9:40pm
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when are they coming out with gray cover sharpies for your hair?

posted by Bridget212323 on February 19th 2009 at 10:25pm
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"For years, I have used black and brown Sharpies to fill in furniture nicks"

And I thought I was doing something unique! I thought of this to clean up a table I sold on craigslist.

Nice to know there are new colors.

posted by kimg924 on February 19th 2009 at 10:26pm
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Any white stitching on leather or pleather articles gets the Sharpie treatment round my place. These colours will be useful for that too.

posted by amed studio on February 19th 2009 at 10:54pm
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There are specific markers for this use that come in a wider range of colors. You can buy them at craft stores I believe. I use them where I work all the time.

posted by hannaleighh on February 20th 2009 at 12:49am
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I have some black suede shoes that were looking very worn until I colored them in with a marker.

posted by mrs yow on February 20th 2009 at 3:26am
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I have a Minwax stain marker that I use all the time for this.

posted by Cheryl on February 20th 2009 at 6:47am
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Now we just need a black "shoe polish" colored marker.
Oh wait. . .

posted by kiljoywashere on February 20th 2009 at 10:16am
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The right colored Sharpie can solve a multitude of problems. My favorite is to "black out" offensive logos on clothing and shoes, but I have also used just them on furniture and upholstery for years.
_________________________________________________
Question. Why would you purchase clothes that have offensive logos only to get home and mark them out?

posted by Joan52 on February 20th 2009 at 11:57am
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Laura - you and me both. For my "mahogany" colored furniture I use iodine on a Q-tip.

posted by TheGoodBiGirl on February 20th 2009 at 1:56pm
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I've been using brown markers for years... Clever marketing, I suppose. A cheap way to "invent" a new product. Can't blame them.

posted by brenton on February 21st 2009 at 1:28am
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What a great idea, iodine on a q-tip. Thanks.

posted by click212 on February 21st 2009 at 11:42am
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The multicolor sets of Sharpies for arts and crafts use has a gray, I think... just in case your head really needs help! ;^)

I have used the Minwax pens which are ok, I have used a variety of Sharpies, which are ok, but sometimes I have to resort to acrylic paint custom blended because other things don't match well enough. (We have house rabbits that occasionally nibble on furniture legs, darn them!)

posted by SherryBinNH on February 21st 2009 at 4:03pm
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Interesting product. I think I'd still prefer the wax pencils since you can smooth out (relatively) deeper scratches.

I also eagerly await the the Sharpie Gray Touch Up Pen. ;)

posted by kwr729 on February 22nd 2009 at 11:00am
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Also been doing this for years with a black and/or brown sharpie. If it's too dark, I just add a little spit. People tend not to notice dark scratches in life, just light ones.

And, yes, I wash my hands immediately afterwards.

posted by shimmy on October 9th 2009 at 2:42pm
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