We’re keeping our dining table. The consensus seemed to be that the Strut table I had my eye on, while beautiful, is prone to scratches. We have enough of those already, thank you.
The kids and the cats have both been doing a number on our beautiful vintage table, but it does still clean up nicely. My mother-in-law gave me a Tibet Almond Stick for the surface scratches in the wood that the cats are so fond of creating. It’s basically an oily bunch of cloth in a tube, but it does help.
26 comments
clarissa
huge proponent of the the walnut trick. it truly does work!
Claire
Like others, I’ve heard the walnut trick too. It was covered in Apartment Therapy a while ago, but inspired a huge debate about the hazards this could cause for children with nut allergies… which I thought might have been a little over-sensitive…but then again I’ve never had a kid with a nut allergy.
Efrat
It does look better! I should do the same :)
Jarfly Designs
Good tip! I’m totally going to use this!
Tineke
Howard Feed-N-Wax is amazing. It really makes the wood happy and fills all of the scratches. I don’t have very many products that I would buy again and again, but this is one.
Patricia
I’ve heard that rubbing a walnut on a scratched wooden surface makes it disappear. Sounds like the cheapest and easiest way to do it!
Sixth & Elm
Before I read the post I thought you were talking about some type of almond dessert or cookie stick. So when I read “Will not injure the Finish” on the package I thought, ‘well, that’s good,’ and wondered if people from Finland had some weird sensitivity to dessert sticks.
Making it Lovely
Ha!
Courtney
I love the good ‘ol walnut trick!
Summer
Rub a walnut chunk on it. I didn’t believe it until I tried it. Giant scratch on my hard wood floors basically vanished.
Britt
Not a bad job at all! I’ll have to try that out on my own dining table. As my cats have been doing a number as well. :)
Ariel
I’ve been seeing this trick on pinterest where you use a walnut to repair minor damages such as those. Check it out! http://pinterest.com/pin/179704897/
Starlet
OOOHH! I have been looking for this type of product! Is it safe for pets? My cats Coco & Chanel love to smell and lick anything new they could find…
Heather
Another tip that my husband uses all of the time (he picks and refurnishes furniture) is to take a walnut, cut it in half and rub the open side on the scratch in the wood. It sounds like the Almond Stick is the same idea, but we’ve had great success with walnuts!
Making it Lovely
There must be something about the oil from nuts that’s good for wood.
EJ
Have you ever tried Howard’s Restor-a-Finish?
My (antique dealer) mom turned me on to it, and I love it for quick touch-ups. Here’s photos of a recent example: http://goo.gl/9iErV
Making it Lovely
Wow! That’s pretty fantastic.
Sara
I second Howard’s. Check out the blog Russet Street Reno for great examples of it. She turned me on to it.
Jennifer M
I love the Tibet Almond Stick, too, but I’ve found it really only works on light or medium toned wood. Will not work on darker woods at all. For that I use Old English.
rose campion
When I had a delicate tabletop, I had a big piece of glass cut to fit, to protect it. It made my life much easier. In my case, it was a dark finish that would get terrible rings any time a glass was set on it and a husband who didn’t believe in coasters, though it did scratch easily as well. With the glass tabletop I was able to relax and not have to scold the husband about putting his glass on the table.
I got my glass cut at this place in Cicero, on Cermak, but maybe Tayloe Glass here in Oak Park can do it as well.
Danielle
Let’s face it. Nothing can stay perfect ever. But I think your fix right now is doing the trick!
Danielle
Mayo.
Mayonnaise works wonders for scratched wood. Put a little on a cloth, and rub it in.
Making it Lovely
Ah, good to know.
iris
I take a more hardcore approach which involves sandpaper and clear lacquer, but I think it works a little better…and a little more permanently.
Giulia
I’ll keep my eye out for this. I have the problem with my floors – the kids drag in sand/rocks even if they take off their shoes and inevitably it manages to scratch the floors…
Sixth & Elm
Most nut oils, especially walnut oil, is tinted brown (think of how brown peanut butter is) and the combination of oil and slight colour works to decrease the stain difference between the wood finish and the unstained wood underneath exposed by the scratch. The tinting is mild so it works for almost all colours of stained wood, with slightly better results on lighter stains. Walnuts can be used as a natural brown dye (usually the hulls, but the colour is also present in the lighter meat of the nut which is used for this trick because it has more oil), which is evidence of its ability to colour items.
I’m a chemist and we’re full of archaic and random – but sometimes useful – junk like this.
Chantelle
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