
As arduous as the task of maintaining your furniture might be, it can actually be very rewarding, especially if you have wooden furniture. Wooden pieces of furniture can add a vintage charm. If it is a treasured heirloom, you might be even more inclined to properly maintain it. Fortunately, there are several methods with which you can maintain your furniture, wooden and otherwise, to keep it in tip-top shape. If you happen to have just purchased furniture and are looking for cleaning tips, this guide will help you do so.
Proper Treatment
First things first, you have to not mistreat your furniture in the first place. Your furniture might be sturdy and durable, but there are limits to how much you can use your furniture. Depending on quality and age, you might inflict heat and ring damage on your furniture if you’re not careful enough, so make sure that you always use coasters when setting mugs on wooden tables. You should also use a potholder or a trivet if you’re going to place hot food on wooden tables, as it can inflict heat damage as well. Your protection methods can also be decorative pieces, like tablecloths, which will both protect and make your dining table more stunning. If you decide to protect and spruce up your tables, you could also pair them up with table liners cheap to make your table look extra appealing.
Dust Your Furniture
Dusting is the least favored step on this list for house owners, but it is still important, nevertheless. It is really difficult to prevent the thin film of airborne particles from coating your furniture; thus, it is imperative that you do regular cleaning of these parts to keep this buildup from happening. As stated on this website, thick layers of dust can inflict long-term damage on your furniture. In order to prevent this from ever occurring, make sure to use soft materials for dusting, like cotton T-shirts or microfiber material to avoid doing any further damage. You can also use lambswool dusters for ornate carvings, as they can effectively dust off any contaminants in areas that are hard to reach.
Limit Sunlight Exposure
Limiting your furniture’s exposure to sunlight is a crucial step in furniture maintenance, especially if you have wooden furniture. If you’re not careful about exposing your wooden furniture to sunlight for long periods of time, you might be looking at irreparable damage on your fine wood. Sunlight exposure will create a ‘spotting damage,’ which will look like dark or bright spots across the furniture, so be sure to keep sunlight at bay to protect your furniture. If sunlight exposure is unavoidable, you can place valuable pieces of furniture away from uncovered windows, fireplaces, or vents. Tablecloths can also mitigate this type of damage for wooden tables.
Wood Protection
The good thing is you will find an array of polishes and sprays designed specifically for wood maintenance. Because they contain silicone oil and/ or petroleum distillates, they will always add a shiny finish to your wooden pieces. However, too much of these commercial sprays can be damaging, as these products can create a sticky film of buildup and will be even harder to get rid of than your usual thin layer of dusting. In fact, that sticky film is not cleaned for a long period of time, dust will stick to it and create an even bigger mess. In order to avoid that, make sure that you regulate your usage of these products. Furthermore, avoid using products that contain wax protection, as they can more or less create the same sticky film that is hard to clean.
Wear and Tear Treatment
You might be doing all you can to avoid furniture damage, but these efforts, unfortunately, are not going to stand against wear and tear of time. Sooner or later, the furniture will sustain damage like scratches and nicks, especially if you have a pet in the house. Wooden abrasions can be treated to some extent with scratch covers. However, if the damage is way too hard to deal with, you may not find it useful to use polishes and sprays. Instead, you’ll have to go for more effective methods to restore your wooden furniture’s beauty, like painting a damaged piece of furniture. You may also want to apply a coating of wax to your furniture, as it can serve as a protection against wear and tear.
Now that you know some of the best practices to protect your wooden furniture, you can proceed with the methods that will work best for the type of damage on your furniture. Luckily, maintaining wooden furniture isn’t a time-consuming process once you get the hang of it. In fact, you will be happy as your wooden furniture will always look in top shape.