Sometimes, the solutions to your problems might be right under your nose. One TikToker has demonstrated an unbelievable hack to spruce up damaged furniture using a common pantry item.
The scoop
Stephanie Booth (@stephanieboothhome), a TikToker who shares cleaning and organizational hacks, found an unexpected scratch on their varnished wood table.
@stephanieboothhome Hack for erasing scratches from real wood furniture. The secret: tree nuts! 🌰 This is an old-school hack that I've been using for years. The oily nuts work best: walnuts, pecans and macadamia. My go-to is the walnut. Break the nut in half to expose the meaty interior and rub over the scratch a few times. The nut's oil will soak into the scratch, making it disappear. Then wipe away any nutty residue with a soft, dry cloth. This has worked well for me on both light and dark wood tones. Only do this to varnished solid wood. I don't recommend doing this on raw, unsealed wood; pressboard or press wood furniture since they are made up of wood or paper scraps. #furniturescratches #hometips #hometipsandtricks #oldschooltips #woodrepair ♬ original sound - Stephanie Booth Home
However, instead of buying expensive and chemical-laden furniture products, they went to the kitchen and grabbed a walnut instead.
It sounds unbelievable, but the results are incredible. Stephanie broke the walnut meat in half to get to the oil in the center. They then rubbed the nut over the scratch, allowing the oil to penetrate the exposed wood. In seconds, the scratch disappeared, and they simply wiped the remaining residue away with a dry cloth.
"This is an old-school hack that I've been using for years," Stephanie captioned the post. "The oily nuts work best: walnuts, pecans, and macadamia. My go-to is the walnut."
Stephanie added this should only be done with varnished wood, but the hack has worked on both light and dark wood tones.
How it's helping
Stephanie's "quick and easy" hack using the humble walnut can have multiple environmental benefits.
First, using a natural solution like a walnut avoids the need to buy furniture products with harsh chemicals. If sales of these products fall, manufacturers will likely reduce their production of them. That means a cleaner, safer home free from potentially harmful ingredients.
According to Oregon Metro, furniture polishes and waxes often contain aromatic solvents such as benzene and toluene, which are hazardous. Benzene is a known carcinogen, while toluene can cause nose and eye irritation as well as liver and kidney damage, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention observed.
🗣️ Which of these factors would be your biggest motivator in buying eco-friendly furniture?
🔘 Durable materials 💪
🔘 Chic design ✨
🔘 Lower price 💰
🔘 Not interested 🚫
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
Furthermore, by repairing scratched furniture instead of replacing them with new purchases, you can keep these items out of landfills. As trash breaks down in landfills, it contributes to the production of methane, a potent planet-warming gas.
The Environmental Protection Agency found furniture and furnishings made up 4.1% of the total municipal solid waste in 2018, accounting for 12.1 million tons. Wood was the largest material category among furniture. While 19.5% of all furniture and furnishings were combusted for energy recovery, a staggering 80.1% ended up in landfills.
What people are saying
"Wow!" said one commenter, clearly stunned by how the nut can make wood scratches disappear.
The video, which has over 400 likes, surely convinced more people to ditch harmful cleaning products. In addition to keeping dangerous toxins from your home, you'll save money by not buying such items — and avoid the need to purchase expensive new furniture.
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