They can be found in salads, cakes, bread and pasta dishes and can be picked up in a little bag by the supermarket checkout tills.
They are also a great source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid that is important for reducing inflammation. In fact, they are the only nut significantly high enough in these omega-3 fatty acids to reduce the risk of heart disease.
But people are only just discovering a new use for the humble walnut. The popular Christmassy snack is also excellent at making scratches on wooden floors and furniture disappear in seconds.
One person, called Duffman, posting in Cleaning Tips, took to Reddit this week to explain: “I just took a walnut out of the bag (what you’d eat, not the shells) and rubbed it on it really hard with my thumb. It broke apart and took 2 walnuts to fix. It works great on superficial scratches, but only OK on deep scratches. Afterwards, I just use Bona floor cleaner and a microfiber cloth to wipe it all up.”
Another user called Nice-tangerine added: “The natural oil in the walnut coats the open wood (the scratch) to more closely match the finished wood surface. If you have a painted wood or tinted/varnished with another colour it may not hide the scratch as well as it does on the more natural colour.”
Duffman replied: “My kid tipped his kitchen chair over and no cleaner would get the paint off, so I tried a walnut and it worked great. Took about a minute or two of scrubbing. I’ve since tried it on paint marks from Hotwheels cars, and also a spot of toenail polish and it took both of those off as well.”
And it seems the cleaning experts agree with the social media chatter on the power of the walnut to buff up damaged wood.
Brad Holden, whose familyhandyman.com website reveals tried and tested handy hacks like the walnut one agreed, adding: “Furniture gets beat up over time but you don’t have to live with the unsightly scratches. In fact, you can remove years of damage with a simple snack food: walnuts.
“Simply rub a walnut over a scratch in wood several times. Then, with your fingers rub the scratched area. This will help the wood absorb the oil from the nut. Lastly, use a soft cloth to buff the area. Now the scratch is sealed and gone!
And Petya Holevich, house cleaning expert from Fantastic Services told Ideal Home Magazine: “Rubbing a walnut on wood can diminish the appearance of scratches because the natural oils in walnuts can help mask minor scratches and improve the wood’s appearance.”