There are lots of products out there designed to help touch up wood scratches and blemishes. But if you have shoe polish lying around you might be amazed how well that works on your wood furniture or floors. At about half the price or even better than you’d pay for specialized products.
How I learned this wood scratch trick
When I was an undergraduate I majored in theater. And one of my good friends back then and to this day wound up working with furniture. When a medium brown 200-year-old wood trunk had been scratched during a move, he suggested I try brown shoe polish (which I had) to fix the blemish.
I didn’t have much faith in this working, but it made a big difference. And since then I’ve used this trick many times on all kinds of things. I now have brown and tan shoe polish that pretty much cover (no pun intended) the woods in my home.
Now if there is a deep scratch or blemish, shoe polish alone is not going to bring it back to looking new. But in my experience it can get it looking way better.
How to fix those wood scratches
There really isn’t much to the “technique”. Just make sure to use a soft, non-scratchy cloth or a thick, soft tissue. Apply a small amount of polish to start. And then rub gently in circles for about 5 to 10 seconds, pushing inward.
Now remove any remaining polish using a clean spot on the same cloth. And then polish it up with quicker movements than you used during the application. You may need a second application, so go ahead if all looks ok.
NOTE: You want to start with a small amount — ideally in a very small spot — to make sure the color is the right one. And that you aren’t doing any harm. I’ve never had any problems using this method, but it pays to be careful just in case.
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