Using Wax for Furniture Repairs
Furniture Wax Repairs Guide
Sometimes we encounter small scratches or marks on our wooden furniture, and whilst this offers character to our pieces, it doesn’t mean we can’t often restore them easily to hide any undesirable imperfections.
There are a variety of waxes in many shades, and they come in forms from soft, hard and wet, which gives us a large amount of flexibility in repairing these small imperfections on our wood.
Wet Wax
Wet wax, such as bees wax, can be used to polish natural wood items and to remove minor surface blemishes. Coloured variants of waxes should be used on stained items to fill in surface defects with a similar colour.
This wax is applied with a lint-free cloth, working in the direction of the wood grain to leave a thin film of wood on the wood. Leave for 10 minutes before gently buffing with a dry cloth. Repeat if needed to fill or disguise stubborn imperfections.
Soft Wax
Soft wax is ideal for use in slightly deeper scratches or chips. Ideally, when applying soft wax, we are looking for scratches or defects in less commonly used surfaces, such as the corners, sides or legs of pieces. soft wax, you
With soft wax, you gently rub over the desired area, ensuring that you completely fill in the scratch or chip. You may have to press slightly harder to make sure that it has completely filled in the gap.
Simply buff flat with a lint-free cloth. If the colour is not a good match, the wax can be removed using a tool or your finger nail, so you can attempt the repair again with a more suitable colour.
Hard Wax
Hard wax is generally used when scratches are in areas more likely to receive contact. For instance on table or counter tops, or in pull out desks.
With hard wax you first need to heat the end of the wax with a heating element. This allows the wax to drip and fill in the affected area. Then use a soft spatula or plastic tool to gently press in the wax to the entire space. Leave for a couple of minutes to harden.
Finish by wiping off any excess wax, smoothing the area flat then buff to leave ready for use.