How to Fix Damaged Surfaces of Wood Furniture

Total Time: 30 minutes to one hour

Supplies:

• Murphy's Oil Soap
• wood marker, of the appropriate hue - here's a nice set available that has a varied array of colours for cheap - from Home Depot or Amazon (see below)
• olive oil
• apple cider vinegar - recipe for olive oil and ACV polish found here: Homemade Furniture Polish Recipes
• rag
• Marker Source:
• Rejuvenate Wood Furniture & Floor Repair Markers (Affiliate Link) ($7.98)

Related Product: 

Rejuvenate Wood Furniture & Floor Repair Markers

Steps:

1. It is always a good idea to clean your furniture thoroughly with Murphy's Oil Soap before you begin. You can either buy the spray version, or dilute it one part to 3 parts water on a rag, then rub it on the wood.

 
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2. Look for the marker that most complements your piece of furniture. Then, after your furniture has dried from the washing, simply draw on your wood! This can be a fun step for children to finish. It can also be helpful during this step to rub in the ink with a rag each time you draw on your piece of wood. It can also be helpful to draw over the same area multiple times.

 

 
3. Let it dry for a while. I would say, wait at least 5 minutes, because you don't want the ink to rub off in your next step.
4. After the marker is all dry, then take equal parts olive oil and vinegar, shake them up really well in a jar, and rub it on the wood with a terry robe or other porous cloth.

 

 
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5. As you can see, it looks great! As good as new, when viewed in a certain light. As you can see in my photos, this really nice and pricey nightstand was worthless before the treatment. But now, unless you look at it up close, it looks as good as new. I also tried this treatment with 3 other nightstands and a rolling cart on this particular day, and the results were impressive each time.

 

dscootermama

March 26, 20174 found this helpful

thanks for this tutorial! i have some of those markers but was uncertain how they were used. it certainly looks like they make the furniture look MUCH better!

cjnassr

December 16, 20211 found this helpful

Is there a vinegar smell and does it last long?

This is yet another example of someone giving out wrong information about "restoring" furniture. Used motor oil has a beautiful golden brown color, it does not mean you should rub it all over your furniture, either.OLIVE OIL, COCONUT OIL, SAFFLOWER OIL,MINERAL OIL, ANY NON DRYING OILS, DO NOT BELONG ON FURNITURE. If you rub oil into wood you are CONTAMINATING IT and rendering it unsuitable for actual, proven, proper restoration techniques developed over hundreds of years by people who actually know what they're doing!