Wood, Yes - Furniture, No
Written: Sep 02 '08 (Updated Sep 11 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: color matching, works on rougher-finished pieces like molding and paneling
Cons: useless - worse than useless, in fact - on finished furniture
The Bottom Line: A DAP Blend Stick regardless of color (including Dark Walnut) won't provide a satisfactory repair to good furniture. It's that simple.
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| scmrak's Full Review: DAP Dark Walnut Blend Stick Wood Filler |
Murphy's Law of Furniture states that "The length of time between acquisition of a piece of furniture and its first scratch is inversely proportional to its cost." The Universe ruthlessly enforces that law in any house inhabited by children or pets, so it would be very much appreciated if The Universe would provide an easy method of making repairs to small dings and scratches. If in its infinite wisdom TU has done so, it is certainly not in the form of DAP Blend Sticks.
A DAP Blend Stickis an adult-sized (and adult-priced) sort of crayon, essentially colored wax that the furniture-owner is supposed to rub over "nail holes, scratches, and other minor blemishes in finished wood surfaces." That's according to DAP's advertising writers - the same people claim that "it is ideal for wood and simulated wood surfaces such as paneling, woodwork, molding, furniture, and cabinets." Pshaw: it's good for some of them, but not necessarily for furniture...
Rather than being pointed, DAP's Blend Sticks have a teardrop cross-section so that there's one sharp edge while the rest of the stick is rounded. The idea is that you can "feather" the wax more easily, which is helpful if you need to blend it with other colors to get the best color match. At least the shape means it doesn't roll away... DAP supplies these babies in a dozen different shades, including not just wood tomes - light and dark oak, light and dark walnut, cherry, maple, etc. - but also black and white. The instructions are pretty simple: just fill in the blemish with a blend stick (or combination of sticks) of the proper color, and voila! the piece is fixed.
Not so fast, DAP: I've tried to use this product on several different occasions, and I've learned this small truth: these Blend Sticks are pretty much worthless on highly-finished furniture. If you want to repair a scratch on a table top or anything else that gets regular use, the blend stick will quickly smear and rub out, much like a Crayola. Where you can use it successfully is on paneling or molding, and other wood surfaces that are not highly finished (varnished or lacquered). If you only intend to repair some shallow scratches that don't penetrate the finish, these things are pretty useless - just put on a good, heavy coat of wax instead. Maybe two coats.
For better results when the finish has been damaged by small chips and scratches, I've learned that you can buy felt-tip pens in various wood colors and blend them together to match. Then put on a good coat of paste wax. You can even use a little clear nail polish, but you'll need to smooth the chip out afterward with extremely fine sandpaper or steel wool and then wax heavily. As for repairing good furniture with DAP Blend Sticks of any shade, well, good luck: you're gonna need it.
Recommended:
No
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