Question: How can I repair pencil marks in my wooden table?
— Owings
Answer: When someone presses a hard pencil tip into a wooden tabletop, it causes two kinds of damage: the marks themselves, plus the dents. You can take them out by completely refinishing the tabletop, but that is a lot of work. There's an easier way that often works, using a combination of isopropyl alcohol (also known as rubbing alcohol) and steam.
So try this, starting with one test spot: Moisten a cloth with alcohol, and dab some of the alcohol on a few letters. If this works, rub the rest of the marks; they should lighten or even disappear. If you still see traces, repeat — several times if you must. Then, to deal with the dents, dribble on a few drops of water and position a cotton cloth over that. Press with the tip of a hot iron (on a dry setting) until the steam stops. Lift up the cloth and inspect. You might need to repeat this several times. Eventually, the wood fibers that were compressed by pencil pressure will usually spring back to their original shape, eliminating the dents.
If any fibers were cut by a sharp pencil lead, the dents might still show. Also, there is always a chance that the treatment might cloud up the finish a bit. If that happens, wait a day or so and see if it goes away on its own. If not, you might have to sand and refinish. But even that should go easier because the dents won’t be as deep.
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Question: I have severe allergies and cannot tolerate the smell of normal paint, which sets off migraines. In just one room, I tried the best-quality paint from a local paint store, but even a year later I could detect an odor that no one else could smell. The only alternative I've heard of is clay paint. I don't know where to find such paint and whom I can get to apply it to the interior walls of my house. Also, can clay paint be used in bathrooms?
— Reston
Answer: Clay paint, because it really is what the name implies, remains highly absorbent even after it dries. It has an ultra matte look that's truly gorgeous. But manufacturers don't recommend it for wet locations, such as bathroom walls next to a sink or shower, unless it is coated with an acrylic glaze to seal the surface and make it more washable. For people who are just after the look of clay paint, it's a good solution. But if your goal is to avoid conventional paints, which are also acrylics, having to add the glaze sort of defeats the purpose.
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A lot of progress has been made in recent years toward manufacturing paints that don’t trigger as many allergies. Even mainstream paint manufacturers now offer formulas with zero or very low levels of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. There are also VOC-free colorants, the tints added at the paint store to give you the color you want. These paints might still contain ingredients that trigger allergies for some people, but eliminating most or all of the VOCs does solve the problem for many people.
Some manufacturers go even further and eliminate ingredients that can trigger health effects but aren't covered by the VOC regulations. The Amicus Green Building Center in Kensington (301-571-8590; www.amicusgreen.com) sells a line of American Pride paints that the owner, Jason Holstine, says usually work well even for people who are allergic to other paints.
You might want to give one of these new-generation paints a try. Just because you bought “the best-quality paint” last time doesn’t mean you got a formula low in ingredients that trigger allergies. The criteria might have been all about how easy the paint was to use and how well marks wiped off once it dried. Health, unfortunately, isn’t always considered when paints are rated for effectiveness. Also, if you painted over fresh primer too soon, or painted when the room was very humid, it could have left the room smelly far longer than it otherwise would have been.
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If you still do want clay paint, you can buy it at Amicus Green Building Center. Ask the store for recommendations about painters; the company maintains a referral list.
Have a problem in your home? Send questions to localliving@washpost.com . Put "How To" in the subject line, tell us where you live and try to include a photo.
■ The Checklist Read Jeanne Huber's roundup of home-improvement tasks you should tackle in November, such as insulating pipes, at washingtonpost.com/home.
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