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The non-structural formula effortlessly fills in gouges, cracks, and holes on indoor and outdoor surfaces, including furniture, trim, and floors. Shallow repairs can cure in as little as 15 minutes, but deep holes and gouges should be allowed to cure for up to 8 hours before proceeding to sand the area. DAP's heavy-duty, professional-grade filler comes in multiple finish colors, including natural, golden oak, red oak, walnut, and white. The no-mix formula makes it easy to spread in an even, smooth layer on your furniture, doors, windows, or woodwork. Because it has little objectionable odor, it's a great choice for interior projects in rooms without windows that easily open.
Once entirely dry, most wood fillers can be sanded to remove any unwanted texture. This heavy-duty, professional-grade formula looks and performs like actual wood, only stronger, and can be sanded, painted, or stained just like the real thing. That said, Minwax Color-Matched Wood Filler is a close runner-up on account of its ultra-strong, multi-purpose formula that is very easy to use whether indoors or outside. Hardwood floors have a beauty that can't be matched by man-made materials, but unfortunately, wood does scratch, especially if you have pets or kids who roughhouse indoors.
Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler Interior
That means you'll need to first fill any large damage with regular wood filler before applying Aqua Coat Cabinet Grain Filler. When wood, whether in a cabinet, floor, or furniture, is exposed to moisture and general wear-and-tear, it can develop cracks, holes, scratches, and other imperfections. That's when you need a wood filler like our top choice, DAP Plastic Wood, which fills in damage, and then can be sanded, stained, or painted as you choose. The water-based formula fills and conceals cracks, holes, knots, and splits on a variety of surfaces. It comes in three sizes , so you should have plenty to cover one or more large jobs.
It has a thick texture, which makes it suitable for holes or gouges that are fairly deep, but can be a little trickier over shallow scratches. Elmer's Carpenter's Stainable Wood Filler is an impressive product. Containing actual wood fibers, it looks and acts like the real thing, only stronger.
FROM REAL HOMES
The Aqua Coat product itself is white, which makes it easier to see how effectively you're covering the wood grain, but it can be painted any color you choose once dry. This pocket-sized wood filler applies like a marker or crayon. It's wax-based formula dries in as little as 10 minutes, leaving smooth realistic results that make it hard to know there was ever any wood damage at all. It's perfect to keep on hand for touching up any wooden surfaces in your home, especially if you have active children or pets prone to scratching the floors or furniture. This all-purpose, water-based latex wood filler is formulated with real wood fibers.
However, these wood fillers generally are far more resistant to temperature extremes and moisture than water-based products, making them an especially good choice for exterior projects. Water-based wood fillers are easy to use, generally don’t have strong odors, and usually dry quite quickly, some within minutes. They can usually be thinned with water if needed, and clean up with just soap and water. Water-based wood fillers are quite versatile, but are usually best for interior projects. The amount of wood filler used also affects the drying time; deeper patches of filler take longer to dry than shallow repairs.
Bondo Wood Filler
This product should not be used on holes larger than 3/4". For larger holes, use Minwax High Performance Wood Filler. Theresa Holland is a freelance writer and homeowner with significant professional and personal experience researching, testing, and reviewing home improvement products. Using a putty knife, spread a liberal amount of Wood Filler into the area to be filled. Timothy Dale is a home repair expert and writer with over a decade of hands-on construction and home improvement experience. He is skilled in residential, commercial, industrial and institutional plumbing, electrical, carpentry, installation, renovations, and project management. We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process.
It looks and acts like real wood and can be sanded, cut, drilled, planed, stained, varnished, painted or lacquered. This solvent-free product comes in various colors to match real wood species. You can also stain or paint over it in virtually any color, as it's formulated to accept different types of paint just like solid wood, and it dries with smooth and even results.
Aqua Coat Water-Based Gel Cabinet Grain Filler
It looks and acts like actual wood, except once it hardens, it's three times as strong. You can sand, drill, cut, stain, and paint it without worrying about splitting, shrinking, or cracking. Minwax® Color-Matched Wood Filler is a high-quality, no-sand solution for defects in finished wood. The ready-to-use formula is ideal for repairing cracks, gouges, nail holes, knot holes, and other defects in all types of finished or unfinished indoor and outdoor wood surfaces.
This easy-to-use wood filler is great to have on hand for when you need to tend to chips, dents, and scratches on your hardwood floors. The kit includes ten mixable colors, including five common wood stains, black, red, blue, yellow, and white, allowing you to mix the perfect shade to match your flooring or other wooden item. Avoid significant mismatches by first testing the wood filler on a small piece of scrap wood. Use the stain on this test piece to see how it will be absorbed, dry, and cure on both the wood itself and the wood filler. The product brushes onto small scratches, but the kit also comes with wood putty for mending deeper cracks and divots. As the name suggests, you can use the kit to fill in imperfections on furniture as well.
And once you are finished, this wood filler cleans up easily with just soap and water. However you use it, it dries quickly, it's easy to sand, and you can rest assured it won't crack, sink, or shrink. Once dry, Elmer's Carpenter's Stainable Wood Filler can be sanded by hand or with a high-speed sanding tool. Then, go ahead and cover it with stain or paint; it will adhere to either just like real wood. Plus, it sturdily holds nails and screws and resists cracking and shrinking over time.
For smaller projects and touch-ups, your best bet is a Varathane Fill Stick. It comes in ten realistic-looking colors to match most wood grains and finishes. This isn't a wood filler for deep gouges or holes larger than nail holes; it's for smoothing over scratches and other surface imperfections, including nail holes, on wood floors, furniture, trim, and cabinets.
