Ink on sinks? on furniture? w/+thoughts and prayers..

[mobrien207]

To preface the strange post title, I became unemployed on 7/31 and my husband found out a few days ago that his job will end on 9/30, so we're in a pretty tough spot right now. We've pretty much put our life up for sale and as one might imagine, our two children are distressed. So, if you can send positive thoughts and/or prayers our way, I'd appreciate it.

Which brings me to ink on sinks...we put our house up for sale and are trying to spruce it up. My ivory colored sink is made from some sort of composite material, the sink and counter are all one piece with gold brass fixtures. There are tiny fissures and cracks near the drain and the glossy finish is worn off from use. I can't find anything to color over the cracks which will get black just from normal dirt.

Do you think if I painted the cracks over with some ink it would work? Any other ideas?

On the subject of sprucing up, can you use ink on furniture to cover up scratches, etc? Do you know how to get paint, crayon, etc. off furniture? I can't believe the mess my daughter has made of her vintage mahogany bedroom set.

Thanks for your help.
mob

[buggainok]

MOB, so sorry you are having such a tough time. But it sounds like you are doing the best you can with a horrible situation.

About your sprucing up your house and minor fixes, I think Google would be your best friend here. You can find out how to fix/improve anything.

For example, google repairing cracks in composite sinks.

Covering scratches on furniture.

Removing crayon marks from wood furniture.

You can probably use something much better than ink, even though I understand that might be a stamper's first thought. I have had wonderful luck using an oldie but a goodie to cover scratches on furniture and woodwork. It's called Old English Scratch Cover and I think you can probably find it at Walmart. It works especially well on dark wood, but it may come in lighter colors, too.

Here is a link to Old English on Amazon, so you can read about it. It gets good reviews.

Amazon.com - Old English� Furniture Polish: Scratch Cover for Light Wood 8 OZ



Good luck, and I hope things turn for the better soon.

[Angelnorth]

So sorry to hear times are tough, MOB - positive vibes coming your way from this side of the Pond.

I would agree with Bugga that Google is your friend on finding answers here. Inks are probably not going to help with your sink (it would need to be a permanent, solvent-based ink like Stazon because of proximity to water and even then I'm not convinced the opaque cream one would be your best bet). Although ink might help with dying exposed wood with the scratches on furniture so they're not as obvious, there are probably things that will do a much better job of restoring both colour and lustre - Bugga's recommendation sounds like a good place to start your search.

As for paint and crayon on furniture - again, a Google search will almost certainly help but it's going to depend a lot on what kind of paint it is so be prepared to search for "removing acrylic paint marks" or whatever best fits the type of paints etc on there. If you end up having to use any kind of solvent, it's probably going to damage the surface of any varnish or wax finish on the furniture so avoid that it you can or be prepared to refinish those areas, too.

Best of luck with it all, I hope things are brighter before long.

[gregzgurl]

The Old English Furniture Polish/Scratch Cover comes in two formulas - one for light woods and one for dark - and they do work quite well. Another option would be to use stain markers. Minwax makes them in pretty much every color: Minwax Wood Finish Stain Marker - Maintenance & Repair - Minwax The Minwax site also has resources that may be helpful with other information about cleaning/sprucing up your wood items.

Goof Off (not Goo Gone) is formulated to take dried paint off of pretty much any surface. I've used it with great success any number of times on hardwood floors, hardware, etc. Again, this site has more information that could be helpful.

As far as the sink, I would refer to the manufacturer's website (if you know who made it) for information. If it is a "solid surface" material like Corian, then sandpaper can be used to even things out, and there are products that can restore the shine, as well. I've used Weiman products for granite and stainless steel, and they are minor miracle workers.

As a last resort, Rustoleum has some amazing products. For example, I used the Countertop Coating to change my laminate countertops from mustard to gray until we did the kitchen remodel. It held up really well for nearly four years.

I guess that the short answer is that pretty much anything is "fixable", but the long answer is that there is a lot of elbow grease in your future. My heart (and thoughts and prayers) go out to you in what is surely a very difficult (not to mention scary) phase of your life. Just keep in mind that it IS just a phase, and things will come to rights again. Keep us posted!

[SkyNacho]

I wish you luck on the job front and home sales front.

But I would like to suggest that you stay away from simple cosmetic fixes for permanent fixtures. For instance, it's one thing to remove ink stains from your couch or touch up wood furniture-- things I assume you will be taking with you-- to give a neater stage for when people come to look at the house.

But the sink? I would not try to "color over" anything unless you are able to more or less permanently refinish it. I would be concerned that, once the ink wears off, the buyer might view it as an attempt to defraud, unless you're also going to disclose the finish is worn underneath your paint job.