“Wood putty” and “wood filler” are used interchangeably on Amazon listings, and underneath that single phrase sit three chemically different products. One dries by losing water. One cures by chemical reaction between two parts. One never fully hardens at all. They sand differently, they take stain differently, and only one of them can be drilled and screwed into afterwards.
For August 2026 we compared 6 wood putty products from Elmer’s, Minwax, J-B Weld and more, grouped by what the material actually is rather than by the word on the tub. Our top pick is the Gorilla All Purpose Wood Filler for its water resistant formula and the largest body of owner feedback in the category, which makes it the safe default for interior and exterior repairs alike. If the repair is part of a bigger job, our guide to the tools and home improvement section covers the rest of the workbench.
Pros
- Published as water resistant, so it suits interior and exterior repairs
- Largest body of owner feedback in this category
- Available in natural, walnut and golden oak shades
- Tub size suits a project with several repairs
- Sands and paints without fuss
Cons
- Shrinks as it dries, so deep holes need filling in layers
- Once opened the whole tub starts drying out
This is the tub to keep in the cupboard if you are only going to own one. Gorilla publishes it as water resistant, which is the property that decides whether a repair survives a window sill or an exterior door frame, and it is the reason this works as a general default rather than an indoor-only filler.
It is a water-based paste, so it behaves like one. It shrinks a little as it dries, which means a deep hole wants filling in layers or overfilling and sanding back. That is the mechanism rather than a fault, and every paste filler here does the same thing.
The colour options are more useful than they first appear. Natural is the one to buy if the repair will be painted or stained, but walnut and golden oak let you match a finished piece directly and skip the staining problem altogether on a small repair.
Sixteen ounces is the right size for a project with several repairs and the wrong size for one nail hole, because an opened tub does not last indefinitely. The kit version bundles a putty knife and sanding block, which is worth having if you do not own both.
Bottom line: the most broadly useful product here, and the safe answer when you do not know yet what the next repair will be.
- Type: water-based all purpose wood filler
- Size: 16 ounce tub
- Water resistance: published as water resistant
- Colours: natural, walnut, golden oak
- Use: interior and exterior
- Finish: sandable and paintable
Press the filler in rather than smoothing it over the top, so there is no air pocket under the surface. Overfill very slightly and sand back once dry.
For holes deeper than about a quarter of an inch, fill in two or three layers with drying time between. A single deep fill will dish as it dries and you will be sanding a depression.
Seal or paint exterior repairs. Water resistant describes the filler, not the finished repair.
Wipe the rim and reseal the tub firmly. A crust forming under the lid is what ends the life of a part-used tub.
Clean tools with water while the filler is still wet. Once dry it needs sanding off instead.
Pros
- Built specifically for repairs that will be stained
- Sixteen ounce tub covers a whole project
- Long-established product with heavy owner feedback
- Sands to a smooth surface
Cons
- Takes stain more evenly than surrounding grain, so patches stay visible up close
- Shrinks like any paste filler and needs layering on deep holes
This is the product in the group built around one specific claim, and it is worth being precise about what the claim means. Stainable means the filler accepts stain rather than rejecting it, which is genuinely useful and not universal among fillers.
What it does not mean is invisible. Wood takes stain unevenly because grain varies in density, and a filled patch is uniform, so it usually takes stain more evenly than the wood around it. The colour can match while the texture still reads as a patch at close range.
For repairs that will be stained and then viewed from across a room, that is a perfectly good outcome. For a table top someone will look at closely, plan differently: finish first, then use a colour-matched non-hardening putty on what remains.
Otherwise it behaves as a paste filler should. It shrinks a little, it wants layering on deep holes, and it sands to a smooth surface that takes finish cleanly.
Bottom line: the right filler when stain is in the plan, provided your expectations about visibility are realistic.
- Type: stainable wood filler
- Size: 16 ounce tub
- Finish: accepts stain, sandable
- Use: interior woodwork and furniture
Choose this when the repair will be stained and the surface is not under close inspection. Choose a colour-matched putty applied after finishing when it is.
If the repair will be painted, stainability is irrelevant and a general purpose filler is the better buy on shrinkage and sanding alone.
Test on an offcut with the actual stain you plan to use before committing on the workpiece. Stain behaviour varies enough between products that a test is the only reliable guide.
Sand flush rather than proud, and sand with the grain. Cross-grain scratches around a patch show up under stain more than the patch does.
Pros
- Latex base cleans up with water while wet
- Small container suits occasional repairs without waste
- Sands easily to a flush finish
- Long-standing product with strong ratings
Cons
- Interior use, not a choice for exposed exterior repairs
- White colour means it needs painting or staining to disappear
This is the everyday interior filler and the sensible buy when the repair is going to be painted, which covers most skirting boards, trim and interior doors.
Being latex-based, it cleans up with water while wet, which makes it forgiving to work with. It also sands very easily once dry, easily enough that the usual mistake is sanding past the repair and dishing it rather than struggling to level it.
The six ounce size is the right scale for occasional work. A large tub of filler that dries out in the cupboard is a false economy, and most households use less than they expect.
It is white, so it is not a candidate for an unfinished visible repair, and it is an interior product. Taking it outdoors is how a repair reappears after a wet season.
Bottom line: the best value pick for painted interior repairs, in a size that matches how often most people actually need it.
- Type: latex-based all purpose wood filler
- Size: 6 ounce container
- Colour: white
- Cleanup: water while wet
- Use: interior
Anyone filling nail holes, dents and small gaps in interior trim, skirting and doors before painting. That is the most common household wood repair and this is the product aimed squarely at it.
Not the choice for exterior joinery, or for a repair that will be left unfinished.
Sand with a block rather than folded paper. This filler removes quickly and a block keeps the surface flat instead of hollowing the repair.
Prime the patch before painting. A filled area absorbs paint differently from the surrounding surface and will flash through a single top coat otherwise.
Pros
- Highest average owner rating in this comparison
- Tube format reseals better than a tub
- Small size suits single repairs without waste
- Established household name
Cons
- Too small for a project with many repairs
- Interior use and needs finishing to disappear
The interesting thing about this product is the format. A tube dispenses what you need and reseals properly, which means the last repair from it works as well as the first. A tub, by contrast, starts drying the day you open it.
For a household that fills a few nail holes a year, that matters more than any performance difference between fillers. It carries the highest average owner rating in this comparison, and the recurring theme is that it is still usable months later.
Performance is conventional for an interior paste filler. It sands cleanly, it takes paint, and it shrinks slightly like every water-based product here, so deep holes want layering.
The limitation is capacity. At 3.25 ounces this is not the product for refinishing a staircase, and buying several tubes to cover a project costs more than one tub would.
Bottom line: the right buy for occasional small repairs, chosen for how well it keeps rather than for how it performs.
- Type: carpenter's wood filler
- Size: 3.25 ounce tube
- Colour: white
- Use: interior repairs
- Finish: sandable and paintable
Households that need a filler once or twice a year and are tired of throwing away dried-out tubs. Format is the reason to choose it.
If you are working through a whole room of trim, buy a tub instead and accept that you will use it or lose it.
Wipe the nozzle and cap it firmly. Filler left in the neck of a tube is what blocks it before the tube is empty.
Store upright and away from frost. Water-based fillers do not survive freezing well.
Pros
- Cures without shrinking, so one pass fills a deep repair
- Hard enough to drill and hold a screw
- Can rebuild a missing corner or edge, not just fill a dent
- Unused stick keeps for years
Cons
- Short working time once the two parts are kneaded
- Harder to sand than a paste filler
This is the only product in the guide that can rebuild rather than fill. Cut a piece from the stick, knead the two components together, and the chemistry starts. It cures rather than dries, so it does not shrink, and it ends up hard enough to drill and screw into.
That combination is what you need for a stripped hinge screw hole, a missing corner on a door frame or an edge that has broken away. A paste filler in any of those situations will fall out or strip under load.
The trade is working time. Once kneaded you have a few minutes, and after that the piece is scrap. Cut only what the repair needs, because the rest of the stick keeps in a drawer for years with the components separated.
It is also harder to sand than a paste. You are shaping cured plastic, so get it close to the final profile while it is still soft rather than planning to sand a lot away afterwards.
Bottom line: not a general filler, but the only right answer when the repair has to hold something.
- Type: two-part epoxy putty stick
- Size: 1 ounce stick
- Cure: chemical, no shrinkage
- After cure: drillable, tappable, sandable
- Shelf life: long while uncut
Cut only the amount you need and knead until the colour is completely uniform. Streaks mean unmixed material that will not cure properly.
Shape it close to final while soft, using a wet finger or tool to smooth the surface. Sanding cured epoxy is slow work compared with shaping it early.
For a stripped screw hole, pack the hole fully, let it cure, then drill a fresh pilot hole rather than driving a screw into soft material.
Wear gloves while kneading and work in ventilated space. Epoxy components are skin irritants for some people.
Cap the remaining stick and store it dry. Kept separated, the unused portion stays usable for years.
Pros
- Made for finished surfaces where hard filler would look worse
- Colour matched rather than relying on stain
- Stays pliable so it can be reworked
- Covers laminate and vinyl as well as wood
Cons
- Never hardens, so it has no structural strength
- Not suitable for holes that need to hold a fixing
This product belongs to a different family from everything else here, and buying it by mistake is the most common error in this category. It never hardens. That is the design, not a defect.
What it is for is cosmetic repair on an already finished surface: a scratch in a laminate floor, a chip on a vinyl plank, a nick in a finished skirting board. On those surfaces a hard filler leaves a patch that is more visible than the damage, because it cannot match a printed or coated finish.
Being colour matched rather than stainable is the other half of the approach. You pick the shade to suit the surface and apply after finishing, which sidesteps the whole stainable-filler problem.
The limitation is absolute. It has no structural strength, it will not hold a screw, and it should not be used to fill anything that carries load or that will be sanded.
Bottom line: a specialist for finished surfaces, and the wrong product for every job the other fillers here are meant for.
- Type: non-hardening repair putty
- Surfaces: wood, laminate, vinyl
- Colour: matched shades rather than stainable
- Structural strength: none
- Application: after finishing
Anyone repairing a visible scratch or chip on a finished floor, worktop or trim, particularly on laminate and vinyl where a hard filler cannot match the surface.
Not for structural repairs, screw holes, or anything that will be sanded and refinished.
Apply after the surface is finished, not before. This is a touch-up product and it works on the finish rather than under it.
Press in and wipe across the repair with a flat edge rather than a finger, so the surrounding surface stays clean. Excess wipes away easily because the material never sets.
How to Choose Wood Putty
Three Materials, One Shelf Label
The first group is water-based filler, which covers the Gorilla, DAP Plastic Wood and Elmer’s Carpenter’s products here. These are pastes carried in water. They dry as the water leaves, they clean up with water while wet, and they shrink slightly as they dry, which is why deep holes need filling in layers rather than in one pass.
The second group is two-part epoxy putty, represented by J-B Weld KwikWood. You cut a piece off a stick, knead the two components together and the reaction begins. It does not shrink, it cures hard enough to drill and tap, and it will bond where a paste would simply fall out. It is the only product here that can rebuild a missing corner rather than fill a dent.
The third group is non-hardening repair putty, which is what the Roberts Palette product is. It stays pliable, it is colour-matched rather than stainable, and it is intended for cosmetic fixes on finished surfaces including laminate and vinyl. It never becomes structural and it is not meant to.
Buying across those groups by mistake is the usual failure. A cosmetic putty in a screw hole will not hold. A hard filler on a laminate scratch looks worse than the scratch.
Will It Take Stain, and Does That Matter
Stainability is the specification people care about most and the one that disappoints most often. Minwax publishes its filler as stainable and that is the product here built specifically around the claim. The honest picture is that stainable fillers accept stain differently from the wood around them, usually taking it more evenly and therefore standing out as a smoother patch even when the colour matches.
If the repair will be painted, none of this matters and you should pick on shrinkage and sanding instead. If the repair will be stained and the surface is visible, plan for the patch to be detectable at close range no matter which product you use, and consider colour-matched putty applied after finishing instead.
Gorilla offers its filler in natural, walnut and golden oak shades, which is the other approach: match the colour in the tub rather than relying on stain to do it later. For a small repair on a finished piece, that is often the shorter route to an invisible fix.
Shrinkage and Filling in Layers
Every water-based filler shrinks as it dries, because the volume of water leaving has to come from somewhere. That is not a fault, it is the mechanism. What it means in practice is that a deep hole filled flush in one pass will end up slightly dished, and you will be sanding a depression rather than a proud patch.
The working method is to overfill slightly and sand back, or to fill in layers and let each one dry. For anything deeper than roughly a quarter of an inch, layers are the more reliable route with a paste filler.
Epoxy putty does not have this problem. It cures rather than dries, so what you shape is what you get, and that is the main reason to reach for it on a deep or structural repair even though it costs more per repair and gives you a limited working time once mixed.
Interior, Exterior and Water Resistance
Gorilla publishes its all purpose filler as water resistant, which is the specification to look for on anything that will see damp: a window sill, an exterior door frame, garden furniture. Water resistant is not the same as waterproof, and none of these products is a substitute for a finish. The filler still needs sealing or painting.
Interior-only fillers are perfectly good for skirting boards, furniture and indoor trim, and they often sand more easily. Using one outdoors is how a repair reappears after the first wet winter, swelling and lifting at the edges.
Epoxy putty is the most tolerant of moisture once cured, which is why it turns up in boat and outdoor furniture repairs. That tolerance is also why it is harder to sand: you are working a cured plastic rather than a dried paste.
Working Time, Drying Time and Sanding
These are two different clocks and listings often quote only the friendlier one. Working time is how long you have to shape the material. Drying or curing time is how long before you can sand, paint or load it. With a paste filler, working time is generous and drying time depends on depth and humidity, which is why a small dent is ready quickly and a deep hole is not.
Epoxy putty inverts this. Working time is short, often only a few minutes once the two parts are kneaded, and after that it is unusable. Cut off only what you need for one repair, because the rest of the stick keeps until next time and the mixed piece does not.
Sanding behaviour is the difference people notice most in use. A soft interior filler sands almost too easily and it is possible to dish the repair by sanding past it. A hard exterior filler or a cured epoxy resists, and you will want a block rather than folded paper to keep the surface flat.
Tub, Tube or Stick: How the Format Changes the Job
Format is not just packaging. A 16 ounce tub, like the Gorilla and Minwax options, is the right buy for a project with several repairs, but once opened the clock starts on the whole container. A tube, like the Elmer’s and the smaller Gorilla, dispenses a small amount and reseals better, which suits occasional single repairs.
A stick, which is how KwikWood is supplied, is the format that keeps best of all, because the two components are only in contact once you cut and knead them. A partly used stick sits in a drawer for years, which makes epoxy putty a sensible thing to own even if you rarely need it.
The Gorilla kit adds a putty knife and a sanding block to the tub. Whether that is value depends on whether you already own both, but for a first repair it removes the trip back to the shop for the tool you forgot.
What the Filler Is Sticking To
Most failed repairs are adhesion failures rather than product failures, and the surface underneath decides that before you open the tub. Filler grips bare, clean, slightly rough wood. It does not grip varnish, wax, old paint or dust, and a repair that lifts out in one piece a month later was almost always applied over one of those.
End grain is the other trap. The cut ends of fibres drink up moisture from a water-based filler far faster than a flat face does, which pulls the paste dry before it has settled and leaves a weak, crumbly patch. On end grain, either seal first and use a filler that does not depend on soaking in, or use an epoxy putty which does not care.
Loose material is worth removing before filling rather than filling over. On rot or a soft patch, scrape back until you reach wood that resists a screwdriver point. Filler bridging over soft fibres looks fine on the day and fails at the first knock, and this is where a two-part epoxy earns its price, because it bonds into what is left rather than sitting on top of it.
None of this takes long. A minute with a scraper, a vacuum and a quick key with abrasive paper is the difference between a repair that lasts years and one you do again next spring.
Quick Comparison
| Material | How it sets | Shrinks | Best job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water-based filler | Water evaporates | Yes, fill in layers | Dents, nail holes, general repairs |
| Stainable filler | Solvent or water leaves | Yes | Repairs that will be stained |
| Two-part epoxy putty | Chemical cure | No | Rebuilding corners, holding screws |
| Non-hardening putty | Stays pliable | No | Cosmetic fixes on finished surfaces |
Why You Should Trust Us
We build these guides by starting with the products people actually buy and keep, then reading them against what each maker publishes. For this category we gathered current wood fillers and putties, filtered them by verified customer ratings and the volume of that feedback, then grouped the shortlist by material chemistry rather than by score, because a two-part epoxy and a non-hardening putty are not alternatives to each other.
Where a maker publishes a claim such as water resistant or stainable, we use their wording and attribute it. Where a property follows from the chemistry, such as shrinkage in a water-based paste, we say so plainly. More of our home repair guides are in the articles library.
Final Thoughts
For general repairs indoors and out, the best overall choice is the Gorilla All Purpose Wood Filler. It publishes a water resistant formula, comes in colour options as well as natural, and carries the largest body of owner feedback here, which is what you want from the tub that lives in the cupboard for years.
The best value pick is the DAP Plastic Wood latex filler for straightforward interior work where the repair will be painted. If the repair will be stained, the Minwax stainable filler is the one built for that job, with the honest caveat that a patch usually remains visible at close range. For a missing corner, a stripped screw hole or anything that has to hold a fixing, only the J-B Weld KwikWood epoxy putty will do, and the Elmer’s tube is the sensible small-format option for occasional nail holes. The Roberts Palette putty is the cosmetic specialist for laminate and finished surfaces.
Match the chemistry to the repair and the rest follows. You can browse the rest of the department on our categories page.
FAQs
What is the difference between wood putty and wood filler?
In shop usage the terms are used interchangeably, which is why the search results mix them. The useful distinction is behaviour rather than name: some products harden and can be sanded and finished, and some stay pliable and are meant for cosmetic touch-ups on an already finished surface. Read the description for whether it hardens rather than trusting the word on the label.
Can I screw into wood putty after it dries?
Only into a two-part epoxy putty. A dried paste filler has no structural strength and a screw driven into it will strip out under load. If you are repairing a stripped hinge screw hole or rebuilding an edge that has to carry something, use an epoxy putty such as KwikWood, or plug the hole with wood and screw into that instead.
Why does my filled hole sink after it dries?
Because water-based fillers shrink as the water leaves. It is the mechanism, not a defect. Overfill slightly and sand back, or fill deep holes in layers with drying time between them. Anything deeper than about a quarter of an inch is better done in stages, and epoxy putty avoids the issue entirely because it cures rather than dries.
Will a stainable filler really match in 2026?
It will take stain, which is what the claim means, but it will take it more evenly than the wood grain around it. That usually leaves a smooth patch that is visible close up even when the colour is right. For a visible surface that will be stained, many people get a better result by finishing first and then using a colour-matched non-hardening putty on the remaining blemish.
Can I use interior filler outside if I paint over it?
It is a poor bet. Paint slows moisture but does not stop it reaching a repair through end grain and joints, and an interior filler that absorbs water will swell and lift at the edges after a wet season. Use a filler the maker describes as water resistant or exterior grade for anything outdoors, and seal it properly afterwards. Our tools and home improvement section has more repair guides.
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