How to Cover Up Scratches in Wood Furniture

You can easily spend several dollars on a small tube of furniture repair polish, but it's still hard to match the colors perfectly. You could also completely re-stain a scratched piece of wood furniture to cover up the damage, but that is a huge project that will come at a great expense. If you're looking for an easy, effective way to smooth away unsightly surface scratches, the solution may be waiting right in your pantry.

Things You'll Need

• pecans

Instructions

1. Pick out a fragment of a pecan or break a whole pecan in half.

2. Holding it firmly, rub the cut side of the pecan vigorously across the scratched area. As you rub, oils from inside the pecan will darken the lighter spots and actually begin to fill in the grooves of the scratch.

3. Take your time and rub with less intensity as you continue. Once you have built up a foundation of pecan oil, rubbing too vigorously can lead to scraping the oil out of the grooves. Work slower as the scratch begins to look better. You may find it helpful to rub with strokes that begin in the center of the scratch and move outwards toward the edges.

4. When you're satisfied with the look of the scratch, simply stop rubbing and dispose of the used pecans. Allow the repaired area to set undisturbed for an hour or so before touching it.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't allow the repaired area to brush up against wallpaper, curtains or other delicate surfaces shortly after rubbing it with pecans. The oil could rub off and create stains while it's still fresh.