Fix It or Forget It for Furniture

Aired on: May 30, 2012, March 5, 2012

The next time your favorite piece of furniture takes a beating, should you fix it or forget it? HGTV’s John Gidding has the answers.

Fix It

• Scratched wood floor: Rub a walnut on the scratch and the oil will fix 80 percent of the scratch, then sand off any extra residue and use a wood marker to conceal.

• Melted candle wax on rug or fabric: First scrape off excess wax using a credit card, then place a paper bag over remaining wax and iron, the wax will melt into the bag and away from the fabric.

• Crayon or food stain on micro-suede sofa: John says this the "easiest one of all" to fix. Use an emery board to scrape it off the fabric.

Forget It

• Burn mark from hot pan on wood furniture: "You're never going to be able to fix the wood grains again," John says. While the mark is permanent, "If it's an heirloom, I say keep it."

• Cracked bathroom or kitchen tile: "This is usually located in a situation where there's a lot of bacteria," John explains. "You don't want it in your home and it's hard to fix it on your own, so get a professional in [and] fix the tile."