Help! In our Family Room, I used cellophane tape to secure decorations to brown panelling...?

Question

When I removed some of the decorations, the panelling came off on the strips of tape!

It is evident, the tape was there, simply because that area of panelling is now bare & discolored from the tape.

These discolorations look really bad & they are throughout the Family Room.

The holidays are rapidly approaching & this is where our guest are entertained!

What can I use to disguise the tape marks on the panelling?

Thank you so very, very much!

Answer 1

I am not so sure is so easy , and before you go and spend money you need to test a small area. If your paneling is made of pressed board, and the surface has the finish applied to it, the matching of stain will not do the job, since the part that is discolored is not going to take the stain as the original part.
But you should test it to see if when you apply the stain it get better or worse. My experience tells me that you could be repainting it or at least staining it with a darker color. To disguise it may end up becoming more noticeable.
To repair this professionally, you will need to learn how the art of faux paint is used. But you will have to do this in a way that makes the whole room look like it is not a mistake. In other words do it often enough that it becomes part of the pattern. This is achieved by the use of paint to simulate wood, using the brush strokes to simulate the wood grain, and using several tones of stain to give the depth that real wood has. At the end the whole wall must look even and a finish must be applied to it like a clear satin finish, that would give it the finished furniture look.
Good luck

Answer 2

Is the wall a paper product like in a mobile home or is it actually wood? Did splinters come off with the tape or paper ? If it was splinters,I say go with the advice of the guy about matching the stain. Faux painting is not something everyone can do and it would take a long time. If you don't like the wall anyway,paint it Use Goo Gone to remove the tape residue first,regardless of what you do.Good luck

Answer 3

The panel is a thin layer of wood on a ply backing. to repair is very easy. You need to take a sample of the colour to a hardware store and at the stain section, look for a colour that comes close to the orignal. The bit stuck to the celotape is a good sample.If the stain is a bit darker then that is fine. When you get it home, test the colour on a section down the bottom of the wall, there are water based stains or oil based stains or spirit bases stains. ask the attendant which is which so you can thin it down with the appropriate thinning agent. Water base will use water as a thinner, oil bases will use minerial turps as a thinner and metholated spirits for spirit based stains. Thinning stains reduce the density of the colour. If the colour is to dark, simply thin it out. If it is to light, then use a dark colour to add to increase the density. remember to test on a lower part before you wipe on the damaged areas. If there is a grain in the panel, use a marker and a bit of imagination to replicate a grain effect. After all done you may want to carefully paint a coat of semigloss clear coat on to the repaired areas to make it look all even.To apply the stain , simply wipe on wipe off . You soon will get the idea.

Answer 4

Quick and easy fix is to get some brown shoe polish (paste not liquid) and rub it into the areas that have been removed by the tape. Use an old T-Shirt and start out with just a teeny amount of polish...(I don't know how light your paneling is). Re-apply until you have matched the color you want.

Answer 5

LarryM has the right answer but in the future use Sticky Tack available at any party store to hang your decorations. It holds but easily rolls off leaving no marks or removing wall coverings.

Answer 6

use goo gone