DIY & repair · August 14, 2026 · 7 min read
Five Small Repairs Worth Learning Before You Replace Anything
Wobbling chairs, split wooden handles, scuffed boards, loose knobs and worn canvas. Five fixes that take under an hour and no workshop.
Most household items are thrown out for one small fault while the rest is still good. These five repairs cover a surprising share of them. None need power tools, a bench or previous experience — a screwdriver, sandpaper, wood glue and a cloth cover all of it.
1. The chair that rocks
Nine times out of ten it is a loose joint, not a broken one. Turn the chair over, back the screws out, put a drop of wood glue into each hole, and drive them back while pressing the joint tight. Leave it upside down overnight. If a hole has gone soft, push a wooden toothpick in with the glue to give the thread something to bite.
2. The split wooden handle
Open the split slightly, work glue right into it with a scrap of card, then clamp it — a couple of loops of strong string twisted tight with a pencil works as well as a clamp. Scrape the squeeze-out before it sets, sand the following day.
3. The tired chopping or serving board
- Sand with the grain, starting at 120 grit and finishing at 220.
- Wipe off the dust with a barely damp cloth and let it dry fully.
- Rub in food-safe mineral or linseed oil, wait twenty minutes, wipe back the excess.
- Repeat once a month at first, then whenever the wood looks pale and thirsty.
4. The knob or handle that keeps loosening
The screw is usually a hair too short after years of tightening. Add a washer behind the fixing, or swap for a screw one size longer — not wider. Widening the hole is what turns a two-minute fix into a new door.
5. Waxed canvas that has stopped shedding water
It has not failed; the wax has worn thin. Brush the fabric clean, rub a bar of fabric wax over the dry canvas — heavier on seams and the base — then warm it gently with a hairdryer until the surface evens out. Leave it a day before loading it.
None of these need anything from us. Where we sell a piece that suits a repair — an oak board, a canvas bag — it is our own product and we are paid when you buy it.
From the shop
The Rustic Collection is our own small run of wool, oak, waxed canvas and stoneware — the same materials this article talks about. We are paid when you buy from it.