Hiding Ugly Scratches on Furniture

Monday, when I was playing with the mantel in the family room for a Fall Mantel post HERE,

I noticed a few scratches on the armoire you see over in the corner.

Can you see the little dents/scratches in this pic below?

Over the years, this armoire has accumulated small scratches from everyday use.

I thought I'd share a few products I've found that work well to help hide the boo boos that are inevitably going to happen.  By the way, I was not paid or perked in any way to share these products...just sharing them in case you find them helpful.

The product I use most often for a quick touch-up of a scratch on wood furniture is Wood Finish Stain Markers by Minwax.  I found these at Home Depot.  I love Minwax products and use them a lot.  In fact, I noticed when the hardwood flooring guys installed my office flooring HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.   Minwax stain was the stain they used to match my exisiting hardwood flooring.

After I bought the markers, I wanted a quick way to tell which one I should use each time I needed to touch up a scratch.  I found, even though a chest or table might be made of mahogany, sometimes the best marker to use wasn't always the "mahogany" marker.  Sometime the "Dark Walnut" or the "Early American" marker was a better match.  It just depends on how the piece was stained and how the wood has aged over the years.

So, I created this little reference sheet to carry to the piece I'm about to touch up.  Not very high tech, but it works. :)  I just put a few marks/samples of each stain onto a piece of notebook paper and I store this paper in the same place I keep the markers.  Each time I need to touch something up, I just carry the paper over to the piece of furniture to pick the best marker for the job.

I used "Red Mahogany" to touch up the armoire and here's how it looked afterwards.

Before:

After:  Those shiny areas you see off to the right are not scratches.  They are just the reflection of the lamp on the table nearby.

If you have larger areas to touch up...too much for a marker, you can use Howard's Restor-A-Finish.  It also comes in several stain colors.  Be sure to test it out on a inconspicuous area before applying it...just to make sure it gives you the finish/color you need.

My very favorite furniture polish is The Original Bee's Wax.  It protects your furniture but doesn't leave a wax build-up.  I used to buy this at a local antique store but they recently closed, so I'll have to find a new place to purchase it.  Fortunately, I have two cans right now, so I'm good to go for a while.  Update:  Just Googled and apparently, The Original Bee's Wax can be ordered online.

I use my son's old cloth diapers to apply furniture polish.  They also come in handy for polishing silver.  He's gonna shoot me if he sees this post. ;)  Someone told me years ago that cloth diapers make great dusting/cleaning cloths when your kids are potty trained.  So I saved them and 28 years later, they are still working great.  Talk about durable! Guess they last so well because they are made to go through a million washings.

Now, I need your suggestions.  I was noticing yesterday, the wood walls of my family room are looking pretty dry.  I haven't rubbed them down with polish/oil in several years...so it's time.

I've used Old English Lemon Oil in the past.  It worked great, but I would like to know if you have a product you recommend for judges paneling?

Or, do you have a favorite touch-up product for case pieces/wood furniture?  How about a favorite furniture polish?  I hear Guardsman is an excellent furniture polish, but I've never tried it before.  Have you used it?  What are your favorite furniture care products?