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.
Giulia
September 22, 2011 at 10:08 amI’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…
iris
September 22, 2011 at 10:10 amI take a more hardcore approach which involves sandpaper and clear lacquer, but I think it works a little better…and a little more permanently.
Danielle
September 22, 2011 at 10:31 amMayo.
Mayonnaise works wonders for scratched wood. Put a little on a cloth, and rub it in.
Making it Lovely
September 23, 2011 at 12:38 amAh, good to know.
Danielle
September 22, 2011 at 10:32 amLet’s face it. Nothing can stay perfect ever. But I think your fix right now is doing the trick!
rose campion
September 22, 2011 at 10:38 amWhen 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.
Jennifer M
September 22, 2011 at 10:43 amI 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.
EJ
September 22, 2011 at 10:51 amHave 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
Sara
September 22, 2011 at 12:35 pmI second Howard’s. Check out the blog Russet Street Reno for great examples of it. She turned me on to it.
Making it Lovely
September 23, 2011 at 12:39 amWow! That’s pretty fantastic.
Heather
September 22, 2011 at 10:53 amAnother 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
September 23, 2011 at 12:40 amThere must be something about the oil from nuts that’s good for wood.
Starlet
September 22, 2011 at 11:36 amOOOHH! 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…
Ariel
September 22, 2011 at 11:50 amI’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/
Britt
September 22, 2011 at 11:59 amNot 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. :)
Summer
September 22, 2011 at 1:01 pmRub a walnut chunk on it. I didn’t believe it until I tried it. Giant scratch on my hard wood floors basically vanished.
Courtney
September 22, 2011 at 1:57 pmI love the good ‘ol walnut trick!
Sixth & Elm
September 22, 2011 at 3:24 pmBefore 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
September 23, 2011 at 12:40 amHa!
Patricia
September 22, 2011 at 5:47 pmI’ve heard that rubbing a walnut on a scratched wooden surface makes it disappear. Sounds like the cheapest and easiest way to do it!
Tineke
September 22, 2011 at 5:54 pmHoward 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.
Jarfly Designs
September 22, 2011 at 8:21 pmGood tip! I’m totally going to use this!
Efrat
September 22, 2011 at 8:32 pmIt does look better! I should do the same :)
Claire
September 23, 2011 at 8:13 pmLike 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.
clarissa
September 24, 2011 at 8:55 pmhuge proponent of the the walnut trick. it truly does work!