How to Cover Up Scratches on Dark Wood Surfaces

Cover furniture scratches to keep dining room furniture looking fabulous.

Scratches on dark wood surfaces, whether it is a wood floor, furniture or decorative item are inevitable. Busy children, playful dogs and shuffling shoes create scuffs, scratches and scrapes on wood surfaces, particularly pronounced on darker woods. Putting together a household kit for making scratches less noticeable requires gathering a few selected items, placing them in a container and storing the kit in a convenient, ready-to-use location.

Things You'll Need

• Small storage container with lid
• Black felt-tip permanent marker
• Brown felt-tip permanent marker
• #0000 steel wool
• Furniture wax sticks (dark colors)
• Soft cloth
• Hard paste wax
• Plastic putty knife

Instructions

1. Look at the scratched wood and decide if the blemish is a shallow surface scratch or a deeper, more intense scratch.

2. Dot a shallow wood scratch with a felt-tip permanent marker, matching marker color to wood color. Blend with a dry, soft cloth. Alternatively, you could apply a small amount of hard paste wax with a #0000 steel wool and lightly smooth in the direction of the wood grain. Buff with a dry, soft cloth when the wax is level with the wood surface,

3. Rub a matching color wax stick over the scratch and fill it completely to camouflage a deep, intense scratch. Remove excess wax using a plastic putty knife. Buff with a dry, soft cloth when wax is thoroughly dry.

References

• Young Works Home Accents; Home Decorating and Money Saving Tips: Ronda Young
• Handy Owner: How to Hide or Repair Scratches, Dings or Dents in Wood Furniture