Hi AT - I recently purchased a table off craigslist, and am happy to say I got it at a fraction of the retail price. However, as is sometimes expected the item is in not-new condition. There are some small scratches in the top, and one area where what appears to be the black veneer has been torn off (about 1/4 inch). After some interweb research, it appears that a wax putty stick would be the best way to patch/repair. Has anyone had any experience using this type of product to restore/repair veneer/wood? Thanks!
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From my experience, they do cover scratches, but not as well as you would hope. At a distance the scratches sorta "disappear" but the closer you get to the scratch the more you see it.
view thirdcoastgirl's profile
Didn't work at ALL for me on the hardwood floor...
view Tiffany's profile
Yeah, I don't know if they'd work very well on floors but my architectural/interior design firm uses those things all the time on furniture. We have ones from Selva.
view Whalewhistle's profile
It works great on scratches and gouges - but won't do much for the overall color...
...I highly recommend Howard's Restor-A-Finish to help rejuvenate the overall color and cover minor scratches in old furniture.
view bepsf's profile
The wax sticks did not work for me. I second the Howard's Restor-A-Finish for wood.
view rbn987's profile
Thanks all for your recommendations. However, this is a veneer, so it doesn't seem that Howard's would really do much good. I'm gonna give these little crayon-like thingys a try, and will let you know the results!
view amt230's profile
Another cheap solution... I use Prismacolor markers (I have a gazillion shades of brown) to fill in dings and scratches! Works especially good for flooring :)
view marthag's profile
"However, this is a veneer, so it doesn't seem that Howard's would really do much good."
Yes - there's not much that can be done for missing chunks of veneer other than to take it to a professional restorer to piece in the missing veneer...
...however for minor scratches, Howard's works better than you'd think - I purchased a secretary that had tons of scratches on the veneered work surface and the Restor-a-Finish cleaned it right up - I can't even see the scratches any more.
view bepsf's profile
Marthag: hahaha, I was about to recommend the Prismacolors as well.
I use them all the time. If they worked well enough in design school to create a "wood looking" piece of furniture or floor on my renderings, I thought for sure they could work on my wood veneer bookcase! Mix a couple of shades together and do a little blotting and BOOM, you've got a repair. It's not perfect, but the wax just hardens and comes out over time.
view atlantadesigner's profile
I have used wax sticks on furniture and had great results. I just bought a Haywood Wakefield dresser, which my cats scratched the first day! I bought two wax sticks. I held one in my hand until it became soft, the other was harder so I put it in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until it was the consistancy I wanted. I rubbed the softened wax into the scratch and blended the color a litte to match the finish - then gently removed the residue with a paper towel. The result was fantastic! You can't tell that it was dammaged.
Oh - and I now have a glass top for the dresser.
view Tehama's profile