All I Need Is This Package of Sharpies! - Fixing Scratches on Wood Furniture

I have shared before how I have a love of Sharpies! It isn't a secret in our family and it has become a joke.  I am sure I have posted about it before but here is the gist of it.

One year for my birthday I was asked what I wanted and I quoted a Steve Martin line, "All I need is this package of Sharpies!" On the way to the checkout, I grabbed a candy bar, etc as I quoted the lines into the checkout isle. 

That is how I feel about Sharpies. I loved Sharpies and figure you can't have too many of them so I had to have several in every color as I use them for everything. 

Here are some links to many ways I use Sharpies in my life! 


Here is a link to how I used them on my trailer to fill in the cracking vinyl striping and lettering.

Here is how I have used them for years on desks, black furniture etc. 

Here is how I used Sharpies to fix an old chalkboard.

Here is how I used it on my leather clothes to fix worn areas.

Here is how I use them on book covers.

Here is how I used them to fix up scratches on a ping-pong table. 

The leather boot fix is something I did in high school and my friend called me when "Pretty Women" came out and told me I needed to watch it. 

I don't watch "R" rated movies unless they are edited as I don't think the movie industry needs to show so much sex and violence so I don't enjoy watching them or supporting that. So many years later, she called me and told me I had to watch it on TV as it was edited and I could now see it. She would tell me all the time after that movie that I remind her of Julia Roberts. 

My family and strangers have told me that for years so when I actually saw the movie, I laughed aloud during the beginning scene when she is using a marker to fill in the scratches on her leather boots as I did that for years before the movie. Here is a link to that scene. It is about minute 3:25.

Basically, I have never used sharpie on wood furniture before as it is permanent and it stains the wood. However, on this piece, I am NOT going to refinish it as it would take me forever and it isn't going to be a showcase piece but used as a functional dressing table / vanity so I was willing to try it. 

The picture at the top shows the right side of the dresser / vanity having used the Sharpie to fill in the chips and dings and then used the "Old English Dark" furniture polish over the entire thing. I did wash the furniture first. "Murphy's Oil Soap" is what I had on hand and is supposed to keep the oils in the wood. My mother had used it for putting on her makeup and it was / is really dirty where I haven't washed yet. 

Find a Sharpie that is closest in color to the furniture finish. TEST IT ON THE BACK first. I usually grab several colors that are similar so I can find the one that matches best. This is a technique so try it where you can't see it. You have to use the Sharpie on the scratch and then QUICKLY wipe it off using your finger so that it doesn't leave a streak on the furniture but just fills in the scratch. 
 
You can then polish the entire thing with the furniture polish and as you can see by the video and pictures, the right side looks so much better than the left in the top picture and I show pictures of the progression after each step. This last picture has NO furniture polish on it but I had just filled in the scratches with the Sharpie and it still looks so much better.        

Feel free to ask any questions you may have. I LOVE SHARPIES!!!!