Hasta La Ideas

Furniture builders who distress wood have their own sets of tricks. We’ve seen bike chains, bottlecaps, and even beloved, uniquely-shaped rocks all used to bang antique-looking dents into tabletops and the like. But how about getting accidental dents out of a wood surface? Or even mis-drilled holes? There is a pretty magical way to fix them. Use a steamer.

For a video demonstration of how to do this, we look to woodworking expert and addict Izzy Swan, the maniac who figured out how to turn wooden balls using a circular saw. In the video below, Swan demonstrates how to take an average, $20 steamer and use it to apply steam for a few minutes to screw holes in wood. After steaming, he lets the board dry for about 30 minutes and quite incredibly, the holes are practically non-existent. He also shows how you can remove dents in wood by applying a damp rag to the dent and then running a hot iron over it for only two minutes.

Now, why does this process work?

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