Softening Hardened Minwax Wood Putty

Hey, Dirt Farmer Jay here from DirtFarmerJay.com. I'd like to get you a DFJ quick tip. If you ever used Minwax or another brand as Jasko oil-based finishing putty, it's a wood putty that you put on at the very end. Great for filling little nail holes and staple holes, that sort of thing if you're doing a cabin installation, doing furniture like what you see in the background, that sort of thing. I like the putty because it takes stain, it takes paint, makes it really easy to use. It has one drawback, and that is that it dries out over a relatively short period of time because you're taking out the putty and using it, it's got a neat little container that it comes in. There are usually tubs like these down here on the table that they come in in various colors. Jasko that I've used in the past has the same thing. Now when you open a brand new set of putty, you're going to get it like that. It's got a little foil liner, it's filled, and it's soft and ready to use by digging in there. And if you condition the putty as you go, with the trick I'm going to show you, you're going to get it to maintain that feel right there. It looks almost like a soft clay. Notice it's very pliable, it's not sticking to my fingers. It shears off. See, I can rub it in there and it does just fine and bowls back up real clean, picks up excess pieces, really easy to fill little nail holes and cracks, that sort of thing. That's the condition I like to keep it in. Unfortunately, it dries out in use, but I found the tip here and I'll give you that in just a moment, how to use it. Now, first of all, what not to use. Don't use paint thinner or solvents, that sort of thing. If you do, this is what you get. Notice this putty, it's real kind of shiny, it's sticky. If I take my finger in there and stick my finger, it's kind of sticky there, and it doesn't work real well. You can see it's kind of dried out and that sort of thing. It kind of smells funky too, so I don't like to use thinners on them. So what's the secret? Well, let's show you. Here's a little tub here that's dried up prematurely. You can see if I take a screwdriver and stick it in there, it's kind of dry and it cracks. Well, the thing you're seeing me do right here is the first item. Get it out of the jar. I use a screwdriver and I just go ahead and flip it out of the jar. When you do, you can start kneading it. There's some hard pieces in it, that sort of thing. It's not quite the shape where it needs to be. Here's the secret thing. Right here. No, it's not Classico. What's in here is plain old canola vegetable cooking oil, or just a little bit of vegetable oil. I'm sure corn oil and olive oil and all that would work, but you don't need much. You're just going to put in just a couple little drops like that, and then just fold it into it. Start mashing it in, and as you do, the putty will soften. All the solid pieces in there will break up and be reincorporated back in, and there you can see all of a sudden, just within a couple, and I'm kind of shearing the putty sideways to incorporate everything. Once it gets to that stage, now it's here. It's really nice now. This is Dirt Farmer Jay. Hope you enjoyed the tip.