Have you ever wondered what to do when one of your pieces of wood furniture gets that dreaded scratch? Well, wonder no more! I have a few scratches in my dresser and some dings and worn spots in my coffee table, and I have found a very easy solution for fixing these problems!
When I was shopping around Bed Bath & Beyond one day, I came across some “Furniture Touch Up Kits”, made by Guardsman. They had two kits, each containing three markers, and each has three different shades of touch up markers. I was trying to match a medium oak colored wood, and one of their colors looked pretty close so I purchased the kit with that color marker.
Description
The three touch up “pens” are 4 1/4″ long, and look like a fat magic marker. The color of the cap and writing on the pen will reveal the color inside the pen. When you take the cap off, the tip looks very much like those chisel-tipped permanent markers. They smell similar as well, although the odor is not nearly as strong.
My kit contained three pens, marked “light, medium and dark”. The product information on the back of the package states “Restores color to worn edges. It contains the same special formulation of dyes used by furniture manufacturers and dealers in their factories and showrooms for quick, permanent touch-up and repair.”
Claims
* Tough
* Colorfast
* Long lasting
* Dries to the touch in seconds
* Colors blend with most fine furniture finishes
Thoughts
How easy these are to use! I must admit, I was a bit skeptical at first, but I figured that $6 was a cheap investment, and if these worked it would pay off big time. I also knew that if I wasn’t happy with my “Furniture Touch-Up Kit” that I could return it to Bed Bath & Beyond for a full refund.
I started with the most inconspicuous spot that needed some repair, and following the instructions (printed right on the pen), I applied the lightest color first, along the grain of the wood, and I rubbed it immediately with a soft cotton cloth. The directions said to reapply to darken, or move to a darker shade if needed to match the finish.
Although my coffee table doesn’t look brand new, these pens really did fill in the light areas where the wood had become scratched, and these areas which once stood out like a sore thumb now blend into the rest of the furniture, and they are hardly noticeable. You have to look at the table up close to see that there has been some work done on it. I was impressed!
The instructions also state to let the dye set for 5 minutes before you attempt to polish the wood, which wasn’t a big deal at all. It is definitely a great product if you have wood furniture with nicks, mars and scratches, and who of us doesn’t face these kind of problems, especially if we have pets and kids around!
These chisel tip “valve markers” contain a semi-opaque blend of pigments, dyes and binders in a solvent base. Each valve marker contains approximately 0.4 fl. oz., enough to fix a lot of furniture! These do not work if you have tiny cracks in the wood, wood fillers are needed to repair those, but after the cracks have been filled, these might be a good finishing product to go over the top of the repair.
Guardsman was founded in 1915 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has been a leader in the furniture protection industry ever since. They sell a variety of products to help you care for your fine furniture, and make these markers in a host of colors to meet the demands of almost any consumers needs. The markers are available in:
Antique Ivory, Beige, Black, Chocolate Walnut, Clear, Cordovan Mahogany, Dark Cherry Dark Mahogany, Dark Maple, Dark Oak, Dark Pecan, Dark Pine, Dark Walnut, Eggshell, Exra Dark Cherry, Extra Dark Mahogany, Extra Dark Maple, Extra Dark Oak, Extra Dark Pecan, Extra Dark Pine, Extra Dark Walnut, Light Cherry, Light Mahogany, Light Maple, Light Oak, Light Pecan, Light Pine, Light Walnut, Medium Cherry, Medium Mahogany, Medium Maple, Medium Oak, Mediium Pecan, medium Pine, Medium Walnut, Raw Umber, Tavern Pine, and White.
Touch-Up Pens can be purchased individually at the Guardsman website for only $3.15 each, and they are sure to have the color that you need!
True to Guardsman’s claim, these have been a permanent fix to my furniture scratches. They have not worn off, and over time they even blend in with my natural wood colors even more. I highly recommend these if you are looking for a quick fix!!
