How to fix up your furniture with a hot iron, toothpaste… and mayonnaise!

After a whirlwind of visitors during the summer, it’s time to take stock of the bumps and scratches left on your furniture.

According to Find-a-Trader website Checkatrade, we typically pay £150 for a furniture repair, but follow our tips to save money and breathe new life into old favourites.

Remove water stains

White rings on wooden tables are usually caused by moisture penetrating the surface’s protective finish. The top of my wooden cabinet has an ugly water stain.

Darren Eaton, of NH Eaton French Polishers in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, says: ‘Take a step back.

“Your first task is to discover whether the furniture has been waxed, varnished, oiled or varnished. This is easy for a trained eye – just make sure you get it right.’

Experts like Darren are happy to give you impartial advice for free before you blunder and make things worse.

But you can put a fingernail on waxed furniture and you’ll find it softer than a coat of French polish or varnish. Oiled finishes often have a duller sheen. Don’t start until you know the finish.

Darren says I can put a cotton dish towel over the ring mark and run a hot iron over it to draw out the moisture and the mark.

Other options that can banish such water stains include rubbing with a cotton cloth dipped in mayonnaise or toothpaste. Both contain mild abrasives to remove stains from the wood.

Glowing tatty chairs

A wooden chair with a rattan seat – bought years ago for £8 in a junk shop – came in handy for a big summer lunch in the garden.

It’s got new wear marks, but Darren suggests not just putting it in the garage, but making it as good as new – and worth £200.

Nottingham antiques dealer Paul Evans says, ‘Even small bumps cut the value of furniture in half, because at auction it’s the imperfections that catch the eye.’

My first job is degreasing. Detergent with tap water is sparingly sprayed on and dabbed. Fine ‘0000’ steel wool is then rubbed along the wood grain.

Then it’s time to repair cracks and chips with a wax stick. These £8 soft crayons can be rubbed over damaged areas and come in a variety of colors to match the wood. You can buy touch-up pens for £3 to cover up cracks.

Then we apply a mahogany stain with a lint-free cloth. There are dozens of stain colors to choose from, including pine, oak, and walnut.

A £3.50 tester pot will allow you to stain the underside of furniture before deciding what suits best. You can then wax, oil, lacquer or varnish the piece.

Rub with wax

Wax for use on wood is usually made from beeswax or carnauba wax (a type of palm tree). It not only adds shine, but also protects furniture from minor bumps and scratches.

Darren pulls out a Liberon ‘black buffalo’ wax can to add the finishing touches to my £8 chair – making it look like something selling 20 times the price.

He says, “First wax with fine steel wool. Then apply a thin layer of good quality wax to the wood using a soft cotton cloth.

Rub in a circular motion to make sure there are no streaks. Wait a few minutes before polishing, first in more circular motions and then along the grain.”

If you want to take care of your furniture, he recommends polishing it with wax once a year.

Darren adds: ‘Many people use a furniture polish spray that contains silicone. It works well if you let it sit for five minutes after spraying before polishing, but if you rub it right into your furniture it won’t polish and won’t do the wood much good.’

Another tip when using furniture polish is to spray it onto a clean cloth rather than directly onto the wood.

If you then use the cloth to wipe, it will be less likely to soak into the surface and may discolour over time.

Beetle juice

The main ingredient of French polish is shellac – a resin secreted by the female lacquer beetle to form a cocoon in the trees of Asia.

The shellac is mixed with mineral spirits to create French polish and is applied with a ‘rubber’ – a cotton or wool pad soaked in the polish and wrapped in cloth.

Cleaning beetle: French polish is made from shellac – a resin secreted by the female lac beetle to form a cocoon in the trees of Asia (pictured)

Darren says he can spend a few days on a piece of furniture, applying 20 coats for a good finish.

Paul says, ‘Add another shot of spirit to the nail polish to thin it out – and give your furniture a good rub. This helps clear up imperfections.”

Websites like Priory Polishes have tutorials on how to polish.

Sand away stains

There are unfortunately some marks that you just can’t get out – so it may be time to sand.

Alex Froggatt, of Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers at Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex, says: ‘When sanding you may have to tackle the entire surface, but you’ll be rewarded with a blank canvas.

‘This can be great for large pieces, such as an unloved Victorian chest of drawers worth a few hundred pounds – but be careful when restoring Georgian furniture as you’ll remove layers of history and potentially high values.’

To sand, use a varnish stripper such as £20 Nitromors. Scrape with a knife and wire wool and sponge with water.

A light sanding with a £50 orbital electric sander, starting with 80 grit sandpaper, can tackle most stains before moving on to 120 grit paper and then a fine finish with 240 grit.

Take your time with hand sanding before you decide to wax, oil, varnish or varnish.

Darren says a chemical treatment such as oxalic acid can help remove color damage after a sand treatment, which Darren always recommends buying from a specialist, such as Jenkins in Tottenham, London.

Love leather

Desks and leather chairs can be wiped off new stains with a baby wipe.

However, wipes often contain alkaline substances – which are great for tackling stains, but the leather can crack over time.

For a long term solution to leather, wipe it down with a specialist product such as Leather Honey Leather Cleaner for £15.

t.walne@dailymail.co.uk