10 Helpful Tips For Restoring Your Furniture

Time leaves its print on everything, so not even our furniture can escape from it. It could be your sofa pillows that are starting to look scruffy, your coffee table with all those visible water rings, or your cupboard that is becoming dulled. A lot of people don’t have the desire to put some time into working on the furniture that they already have, and rather decide to throw it out and buy new ones. This doesn’t have to be you. You can save a lot of money and time by using these 10 helpful tips on how to restore your furniture.

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Clean wood with vinegar and oil

If you have the problem of irritating stains on your wooden furniture, there is an easy way to get rid of it – make a solution out of a mix of ¾ of white vinegar and ¼ canola oil. You need to make sure that the solution is mixed well, and then use a microfiber cloth or cotton to apply it to the surface with stains on it. It’ll take only a few minutes for you to see the results.

Refresh your furniture with wallpaper

Sometimes you won’t be able to repair your furniture, due to irrecoverable damage from scratches and stains. But still, you can fix this problem by covering it with wallpaper, giving it a unique look. Just cut the wallpaper so that it matches the surface, apply some wood glue with a brush, and place wallpaper on top of it. After that, use a ruler to relieve it of any air bubbles.

Get rid of water rings with mayonnaise

The result of using coasters is most often a water ring on your table that you simply can’t stand. The way to fix this is actually rather simple – use mayonnaise on the stain and leave it there for about thirty minutes. After you wipe it off, the stain will no longer be there.

Bleach plastic garden furniture

The time your plastic furniture spends outside inevitably affects it with sun damage. But there is a solution to this as well – try using bleach. Pour a ¼ cup of bleach into a bucket of hot water, put some gloves on (since bleach is not good for your skin), and then scrub the furniture. After that, wipe it with a piece of cloth, preferably a white one because a colored one will be affected by the bleach.

Use coconut oil to restore wood paint

There is a solution simpler than repainting an old piece of wooden furniture that has diminished in color after a while. Apply just a little coconut oil to it, and then rub it into the piece by using circular motions. This will make the deep color come back, and will also add a protective layer to the wood.

Use walnut or ground coffee to cover wood scratches

Dip a cotton swab into damp coffee grounds, and then use it on the scratches in the wood. After about 10 minutes, wipe the piece with a dry cotton towel. This mostly works for furniture made out of darker wood. For the wood of lighter color, you can rub a walnut across the scratched area, and leave it for just a few minutes before you wipe it with a dry cloth.

Fix your varnish with nail polish and sandpaper

If the varnish of your wooden furniture has taken damage, but the paint is still fine, you can use nail polish to fix the problem. Use the nail polish on the damaged area, and then wait for about 10 minutes for it to dry. Then use sandpaper and scrub the area until it’s flattened and looking good again.

Use olive oil to make the wood shine

If your wooden furniture has taken damage from the sun and no longer has the shine that it used to, Eastern Suburb antique restoration professionals suggest that a cost-effective and non-toxic polish made out of olive oil will make it shine again and give it a protective coat. Use a microfiber cloth to apply the oil to the wood, and enjoy the new shine of your wooden furniture.

Use water and an iron to fix dents

It’s quite easy for wooden furniture to get dented, but you don’t have to worry, as this is fixable as well. This method requires some time, but it can do magic for your piece. First you need to pour water over the damaged area. Then place a kitchen towel over the area and the hot iron right on top of it. Because of the heat, the wood absorbs the water, which in turn, makes it swell. Check the effects after a few minutes, and repeat the method if you have to. Once the dent is small enough, use sandpaper to completely fix the problem by smoothing the area out.

Use a marker for furniture repair

Deeper scratches and cracks, or stains that are really hard to remove, can be fixed with repair markers specially designed for this. You just need to make sure that it matches the color of the furniture, and then lightly use it on the damaged area. You should avoid using the marker on areas that don’t need to be fixed.

In summation

Why throw out your furniture if there is a way to fix it? While it is unavoidable that your furniture pieces will take damage in time, you can use these 10 helpful tips to restore them to their former glory. It’s a more cost-effective solution than buying new ones.