No more bricoangustias! Fixing and repairing furniture and other decor items is not as difficult as they paint it. With a few simple tricks you can become a DIY expert right away .
Furniture and other pieces without damage
- How to fix a limp. Patiently bandage the loose end with nylon thread, then apply wood glue and reattach the leg. Finally, press hard and wipe with a damp cloth to clean the glue that seeps down the sides.
- Screws tight. If a piece of furniture has an impossible-to-adjust screw, remove it and wrap sewing thread around it. Then, dip it in synthetic wood glue and replace it. When the glue dries, the screw will be fixed.
- To repair sagging mesh seats. Give it a hot water bath and put it in the sun to dry and shrink. You can achieve the same effect with the use of a hairdryer. Then apply lemon to prevent it from cracking and, after 24 hours, give it shine with the usual product.
- Soft-opening drawers. If you find it difficult to open and close some drawers, first check that the bottom stops are at the same level as the rest of the furniture. If they are not, you just have to align them. It can also happen that the guides have some defect. In these cases, what should be done is to sand them well in the area of friction and, later, rub them with wax or dry soap. Talcum powder provides the same result.
- Locked drawers. When a furniture drawer is often jammed, you can also fix the problem by rubbing the grooves with a candle or bar of soap. It will slide back easily.
- Loose knobs. If a drawer or cabinet door knob becomes loose, paint the screw that holds it in with colorless nail polish before screwing it in. Once dry, the enamel will hold the screw firmly.
If the lock won't work, heat the end of the key with a lighter, then turn it without forcing it
- Repair wooden furniture. The bumps and holes in wooden furniture can be repaired with a paste based on sawdust and white glue. After filling in the defects, sand the affected part gently and color it with bitumen or wax of the same tone as the wood. And to repair small bumps in varnished or waxed furniture, you can use the hard stained wax that shoemakers use.
- Silent hinges. If a bedroom or closet door squeaks, you can fix it by rubbing the hinge with the tip of a pencil. Graphite from lead is an excellent lubricant for metal parts. If the hinge turns with difficulty, you can make a paste with a crushed pencil lead and oil and smear the piece with it.
- Restore an antique mirror. If the mirror has a great sentimental value for you or you think it is valuable because of its age, it is best not to risk it and take it to a restorer. But if it only has a few small scratches, try the following: Sprinkle tobacco ash on a soft, slightly damp cloth. Rub the affected area with small, slow circular motions. It takes a little time, but it works.
- Painting furniture that is yellow or out of date. Sand to remove the varnish (if it is polyurethane, give a primer and paint over it) and give water-based enamel. Mix it with water: it spreads better and spreads more. Do it with a brush and smooth with the roller to spend less.
Control cabinets
- If the veneer rises at the sides or corners… Put pre-glued edges: they stick easily with the iron.
- If the hinges sag… Just tighten the screws. But if the holes have been widened, put thicker ones to fix them better.
- If the bar falls off … When the screws are loosened, it is best to drill new holes and cover the old ones with putty.
And everything like new
- Crystals like the first day. Over time, glass tables suffer from very visible imperfections and scratches. To restore their good appearance, apply white toothpaste on the damage and, once dry, wipe the glass with a fine cloth.
- Brighten oak. Oak is a wood of great quality and warmth, but it tends to lose its shine with some ease, so it must be treated periodically to revive it. A remedy that is not aggressive for this wood is to prepare a solution that has two thirds of a liter of water and one third of colorless wax. Boil the mixture for a few minutes with two tablespoons of sugar. Let cool and then run a brush or a brush impregnated with the mixture all over the furniture. Insist well for all the nooks and crannies. Wait until the furniture is dry and, to finish polishing it, wipe it with a cloth or, even better, a woolen cloth (you can use an old sweater that you no longer use and that you can turn into scraps for this purpose).
- Paint on the mirrors. If the glass in a mirror or painting gets splattered with varnish or synthetic polish, use nail polish remover. Leave on for a few minutes and then rub with a cloth.
- Peel off masking tape. Place blotting paper on the tape and iron over medium heat.
- Remove stickers and their remains. Soak a sponge in warm vinegar and gently scratch until it disappears. Another effective solution is to apply a cotton swab moistened with nail polish remover to the adhesive. Or a cloth soaked in oil to remove the remains.
- Restore the bathtub. Repair a chipping by applying a porcelain or earthenware enamel. It is given with a brush and dries in 24 hours.
- Recover and decorate your dishes. If your tableware is worn by use and you have some skill with the brush (there are also stencils) you can recover it and decorate it with the special paints for tableware that are sold in drugstores. They are dried in an oven preheated at 140º for 30 minutes.
