The choice of furniture in your home speaks volumes about your personal style statement. Nothing can enhance the look of the interior designing of your house like a nice piece of wood furniture. If you are a proud owner of such furniture, you have to take special efforts for the wood furniture care, as without that the furniture gets damaged and will lose its beauty. Most commonly, wood furniture gets damaged by the elements and also by wrong cleaning methods.
How to Protect Wood Furniture from Damage?
On exposure to sunlight, the ultraviolet radiation of the sun causes severe damage to wood furniture. Therefore, you have to keep your wood furniture in the room away from direct sunlight. When the intensity of the sun rays is high, cover up the windows with proper window treatments so that sunlight cannot enter the room. Excess humidity is not suitable for wood furniture as they tend to swell up and spoil the shape of the wood. If the humidity is low, then it causes splits and cracks on the wood surface. So the humidity of the room should be kept constant with the help of humidifiers in winter andair conditioners in summers.
Liquid spills can cause substantial damage to the wood furniture. As soon as any liquid spills occur on the wood furniture, you should soak it up with a clean soft cotton cloth. Do not rub the cloth as it will spread the spill over a larger surface. Whenever you are keeping any flower vase, beverage glass or cups on the wood furniture, put a coaster below so that the spill does not spoil the wood. High temperature is also not suitable for wood furniture. Therefore, protective pads have to be placed on wood furniture before you put hot utensils, cooking appliances, etc., on them.
Proper Cleaning of Wood Furniture
An integral part of wood furniture care is the use of the right cleaning techniques and the right cleaning products. For the purpose of regular dusting of the wood furniture, use a soft, clean piece of cotton cloth. Rub the dusting cloth in the same direction as that of the wood grain, and also make the moves in an oval pattern. During dusting, if you find that your cloth gets very dirty, replace it with another clean cloth. Use a paint brush with natural bristles to clean up the corners and carvings of the wood furniture effectively. Never use feather dusters as they fail to thoroughly clean the dust from the surface. Do not use water to clean up the dust from the wood as the water will get absorbed on the wood and cause damage to it. If required, use a damp cloth to rub off the dust.
When you choose the cleaning products for wood furniture, do so very carefully. You should polish your wood furniture with furniture oils regularly to maintain their shiny look. Furniture oils that contains linseed oil should not be used repeatedly as they tend to darken the wood. One of the common ingredient of most of the furniture sprays is silicone oil. Such products should be avoided as it makes the wood surface so shiny that refinishing of the wood will become difficult in the future. You can make a homemade furniture polish by mixing one part of lemon oil with 3 parts of olive oil, and apply it on the wood furniture regularly. Do not change the cleaning products frequently. Even the type of polish you are using on the wood has to be consistent.
Care for Wood Furniture
Spots of water on the wood table is a common occurrence. To get rid of such marks, you can apply some mayonnaise on the wood with the help of cotton cloth. When some candle wax drips on the surface of the wood, it should be allowed to cool and turn hard. Then put an ice cube on it for a few minutes. Then scrape off the brittle wax with the help of a spatula. After that apply some polish on the affected area. Keep all wood furniture away from fireplaces, radiators, etc., as heat dries up the wood.
You should be very careful while moving furniture from one place in the house to another. Do not push or pull the furniture as it can damage the legs of the furniture due to over stress. Lift the furniture by their legs and not by their top, and move them. Do not try to do this task alone if they are heavy. If you have to transport furniture from one place to another, then place them on its top or back and not on its legs. For the purpose of storing wood furniture, you should choose a cool, dry place where the possibility of a change in humidity is minimum. And lastly, antique furniture should be handled and cleaned with even more care.
Taking care of wood furniture is not a tough task. However, you have to follow the guidelines for wood furniture care thoroughly so that they can be used for many more years.
How to Protect Wood Furniture from Damage?
On exposure to sunlight, the ultraviolet radiation of the sun causes severe damage to wood furniture. Therefore, you have to keep your wood furniture in the room away from direct sunlight. When the intensity of the sun rays is high, cover up the windows with proper window treatments so that sunlight cannot enter the room. Excess humidity is not suitable for wood furniture as they tend to swell up and spoil the shape of the wood. If the humidity is low, then it causes splits and cracks on the wood surface. So the humidity of the room should be kept constant with the help of humidifiers in winter andair conditioners in summers.
Liquid spills can cause substantial damage to the wood furniture. As soon as any liquid spills occur on the wood furniture, you should soak it up with a clean soft cotton cloth. Do not rub the cloth as it will spread the spill over a larger surface. Whenever you are keeping any flower vase, beverage glass or cups on the wood furniture, put a coaster below so that the spill does not spoil the wood. High temperature is also not suitable for wood furniture. Therefore, protective pads have to be placed on wood furniture before you put hot utensils, cooking appliances, etc., on them.
Proper Cleaning of Wood Furniture
An integral part of wood furniture care is the use of the right cleaning techniques and the right cleaning products. For the purpose of regular dusting of the wood furniture, use a soft, clean piece of cotton cloth. Rub the dusting cloth in the same direction as that of the wood grain, and also make the moves in an oval pattern. During dusting, if you find that your cloth gets very dirty, replace it with another clean cloth. Use a paint brush with natural bristles to clean up the corners and carvings of the wood furniture effectively. Never use feather dusters as they fail to thoroughly clean the dust from the surface. Do not use water to clean up the dust from the wood as the water will get absorbed on the wood and cause damage to it. If required, use a damp cloth to rub off the dust.
When you choose the cleaning products for wood furniture, do so very carefully. You should polish your wood furniture with furniture oils regularly to maintain their shiny look. Furniture oils that contains linseed oil should not be used repeatedly as they tend to darken the wood. One of the common ingredient of most of the furniture sprays is silicone oil. Such products should be avoided as it makes the wood surface so shiny that refinishing of the wood will become difficult in the future. You can make a homemade furniture polish by mixing one part of lemon oil with 3 parts of olive oil, and apply it on the wood furniture regularly. Do not change the cleaning products frequently. Even the type of polish you are using on the wood has to be consistent.
Care for Wood Furniture
Spots of water on the wood table is a common occurrence. To get rid of such marks, you can apply some mayonnaise on the wood with the help of cotton cloth. When some candle wax drips on the surface of the wood, it should be allowed to cool and turn hard. Then put an ice cube on it for a few minutes. Then scrape off the brittle wax with the help of a spatula. After that apply some polish on the affected area. Keep all wood furniture away from fireplaces, radiators, etc., as heat dries up the wood.
You should be very careful while moving furniture from one place in the house to another. Do not push or pull the furniture as it can damage the legs of the furniture due to over stress. Lift the furniture by their legs and not by their top, and move them. Do not try to do this task alone if they are heavy. If you have to transport furniture from one place to another, then place them on its top or back and not on its legs. For the purpose of storing wood furniture, you should choose a cool, dry place where the possibility of a change in humidity is minimum. And lastly, antique furniture should be handled and cleaned with even more care.
Taking care of wood furniture is not a tough task. However, you have to follow the guidelines for wood furniture care thoroughly so that they can be used for many more years.
