Take Care Of Your Furniture
Humans have been using the furniture since the very existence of them in many different forms. Furniture are essential and unavoidable parts of any institution starting from home to schools to offices and many more. They not only make the place look beautiful and attractive, but also make it worthwhile for use. Whatever establishment you can think of, almost all need furniture to make it complete, practical, and functional. People do a lot of research on the furniture before buying them and a lot of hard earned money is invested on the furniture to make any establishment look attractive and usable. Since we take great care in bringing the furniture to our places, obviously we cannot afford to ignore the maintenance of the furniture. There are mainly two types of materials used in making of the furniture, wood and metal. Furthermore, wooden furniture are made out of many different kind of woods and likewise metal furniture are made with many different kind of metals. Both kind of furniture, be it wooden or metal, need specific care and maintenance accordingly. Here, we would give attention in this blog to maintenance and caring part of wooden furniture. Maintaining the furniture generally means cleaning and keeping them carefully. We would divide the maintenance of the wooden furniture in two categories, Do’s and Don’ts.
DO’s:-
DUSTING REGULARLY: Very first and foremost job to keep the furniture in good health is to dust them frequently. Everyday dusting is really appreciable and definitely improves the durability of the furniture. You can dust your wooden furniture with any soft cloth you find at your place, but surely this cloth should be clean and dry. Various kinds of dusters are available in the market or you can find the one on the internet too. You can find fur or feather dusters which are too soft and surely do not harm the furniture surface. Readymade dusters in the market usually have stretchable handles that can go the corners where your hands cannot reach comfortably. So using the a normal clean cloth or a duster is a very basic and first technique to care or maintain your wooden furniture.
Occasionally, you will need to do heavy cleaning of the wooden furniture to remove greasy soil, layers of cigarette ash, marks of different material on the wood. For heavier cleaning of the wooden furniture, use mixture of oil soap and water. The ratio of mixing can be found on oil soap packaging. Take a clean soft natural sponge, moisten the sponge with oil soap, squeeze most of the water, gently rub the furniture to loosen the deposited soil, take the sponge away and wring the sponge again in a clean water, and then dry the furniture with a soft and clean dry cloth.
If time and energy are your concern while maintaining the wooden furniture, then Vacuum Cleaners are great options to dust your wooden furniture or floors. They are very easy to handle and are very effective tools that help you keep your wooden furniture clean and dust free on a daily basis by saving your precious time and energy. You can surf the internet to find the best one for you.
Homemade Solutions : Some homemade recipes might be useful for caring and maintaining the wooden furniture. Mix Vinegar and Olive oil each 1/2 cup, rub it carefully on the scratches. It can fix the scratches.
AVOID DIRECT LIGHT AND HEAT: We might not feel it, but the wood contains natural moisture in it and keeping that moisture at its natural and appropriate level is the secret to the long life of the wooden furniture. Too much of sunlight and very close proximity to direct heat from any source usually suck the moisture out of the wood. So the simple solutions are use protecting window films or curtains to keep the furniture away from direct sunlight and drape them properly while not in use. This will surely maintain the natural moisture of the wood and won’t fade the furniture.
DEFEND FROM DAMAGE: Our day-to-day dealing with furniture take a toll on them. Overflowing glasses, spilling utensils, carelessly put tea, coffee cups, heated utensils all these cause major damage to the wood and usually leave round rings on them. So if you love your furniture, then don’t be so harsh on them. Use good quality coasters, mats, tablecloths, or table covers to protect the wood from unwanted round rings, spills, and direct contact of the harmful materials.
Wax v/s Polish : You always need to keep in mind that whether your furniture is polished or waxed as both need different kinds of care. Wax and polish have different characteristics, so do not mix them up. Choose wisely. Wax usually gives long lasting protection and is durable than polish or sprays. If you are planning to use polish, you should use it with restraints. While using furniture sprays, it is better to spray on the cleaning cloth and then apply on the wood rather than directly spraying on the wood surface. Furniture sprays should be used carefully as they contain silicon oil which is static in nature and does not evaporate like polish. So use the furniture sprays irregularly and always read the instructions on the product before using it. Nowadays, you can find out good paste wax or liquid wax on the internet. It is always wise to contact your furniture manufacturer before you apply wax or polish if you are planning to restore manufacturer’s finish.
GO WITH NEW IDEAS: Innovation in the market has come up with quick fix solutions in the form of furniture touch up pens. Research properly and choose reputed companies furniture touch up pens for small scratches and dents.
DON’TS:
Do not soak your wooden furniture with water. Mixture of oil soap and water in proper ratio is okay, but too much water is really bad for wooden furniture.
Don’t expose too much your wooden furniture to direct sunlight or extreme weather conditions. Irregular weather conditions like too much of heat, rains, winds, or winter are bad for the overall health of the wooden furniture.
Don’t put wooden furniture under extreme temperature, close to heating vent, fire, or in a close proximity of heat. This will dry up the natural moisture of the wood and shrinking and cracking of the wood occur slowly.
Don’t go blind with advertisements. You cannot make your wood look all the new and same as it was when you purchased it. Wood gets protective finish before finally delivering to the customers. This protective finish usually do not allow over a period of time the second treatment of polish or oil to penetrate it. So if you think your polish or oil will just make the wood new after using it for long, then be careful and chose the polish, wax, oils, or sprays very intelligently. They will surely help the wood look almost new, but too much treatment on the wood with polish or oils might be dangerous and can destroy your lovely furniture.
NOTE: Unauthentic way of furniture care and maintenance will harm your lovely and beautiful furniture. So don’t be experimental and always go for a professional advice before applying or treating anything on your wooden furniture in the name of care and maintenance. Take extra care for antique furniture or if the furniture has gone old.
Hope the tips will be useful for you in caring and maintaining your lovely wooden furniture.
We at Aprodz deal in solid wood furniture. We chiefly use Indian Rosewood (Sheesham) and Mango wood for furniture making. We sell both readymade as well as customized furniture.
