How to Repair and Care for Leather and Wood Furniture

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By Karen Malzeke-Mcdonald
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REPAIR leather funiture—fainting chair

These are some quick repair and easy care tips for the upkeep of leather and wood furniture. Cracks in wood, scratches in leather, these are old school ideas that continue to work. Try them if you haven't already.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

beeswax
soap
paraffin or tallow
vinegar
linseed oil
turpentine
pallet knife
alcohol

Step 1

REPAIR Cane furniture

CANE FURNITURE. Some of us have old cane chairs in our homes. When the seats begin to sag, rub top and under side with hot soap suds and allow to dry in the air.
Step 2

REPAIR Old wood furniture

CRACKS IN WOOD FURNITURE. Whenever cracks or splits occur in wood furniture, they can be filled with softened beeswax. Press into the holes and smooth the surface. When it is hardened, sandpaper before polishing. If you do not choose this method you can fill with a mixture of sawdust and glue. Treated the same way as above mentioned, it will become as hard as the wood itself.
Step 3

Leather furniture

LEATHER FURNITURE. One part vinegar and two parts linseed oil, applied with a soft cloth, will clean and soften leather. Rub and polish with a dry cloth.
Step 4

Wicker furniture

WICKER FURNITURE. To clean wicker furniture scrub with a stiff brush and warm salt water. Salt not only cleans the wicker but prevents it from turning yellow.
Step 5

REPAIR Beautiful mahogany furniture

WOOD DRESSER. If the drawers stick, plane off the sides and bottom, never the top. Rub the runways with soap, paraffin or tallow. If the knobs are loosened, remove bolts and place between bolts and inside of the drawer rubber washers such as used in faucets. Another way to tighten the knobs is to insert a tiny piece of wooden toothpick in the hole before screwing in the knob.
Step 6

SCRATCHES IN YOUR BEAUTIFUL WOOD FURNITURE. Scratches on mahogany, walnut and fumed oak can be painted with iodine to restore color. Repeat until the color is exact and allow the iodine to sink in and thoroughly dry before polishing. The meat from black walnut or pecan nuts, freed from the skin, will sometimes restore scratches to the original color. Rub in the oil from the nut meats and allow to dry before using a polish.

Comments

dlcass said

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on 12/7/2008 Absolutely fabulous article. In our modern, throw-away world, we sometimes forget how simple it can be to fix something and restore it to it's original beauty. Thanks!