Article by eWay Furniture
This guide is to help ease your mind about your new or proposed wood furniture purchase. I would like to provide some tipson caring for your wood furniture, so that it lasts for years to come.
Tip #1-Sunlight is an enemy of fine furniture. Direct sunlight, over time, will cause your furniture to fade, crack and peel. So, if at all possible, never place your fine furniture, particularly wood and leather, in direct sunlight.
Tip #2-Wood lives and breathes. Think of your fine wood furniture as a very still pet. It must be properly maintained to live a long and happy life. You should dust your furniture several times a week to avoid a dust buildup and clogging of the pores. Be sure to use a damp, not wet, cloth. If you leave water behind after dusting simply wipe with a paper towel. A polishing agent such as Pledge or Old English should be used every 4 to 6 months. The added oil and moisture is good forthe table when used this infrequently. It will shine your piece of furniture and help to keep it moist. However, don’t use those products too frequently, or you will have a problem on your hands. The wax buildup from consistent use will block the pores of your furniture and prevent it from properly taking in and letting out air and moisture. This leads to peeling, cracking and possible splitting of your wood furniture in the worst case. In the best case, you will create a cloudy film of waxy buildup. This is not an attractive look for a piece of fine furniture.
Tip #3-This is a compound tip, regarding what you place on your furniture. If accessories will be placed on a wood surface, you must not slide them across a wood top. This will leave scratches on even a hardwood such as oak. Anything on a wood surface must be picked up and set down. In addition, if I had accessories that would sit for a long time period on a wooden piece of furniture, I would use small felt pads on the bottom of the accessory. On most pieces, these pads would be virtually invisible, but will save a lot of heartache down the road.
Tip #4-When possible, avoid placing your furniture in front of windows, air or heating vents. This is similar to the sunlight rule. Excessive heat, cold, and light are all enemies of your living and breathing wood furniture.
Tip #5-When food will be used on the furniture, place mats and/or trivets should be used regularly. Even a granite table is not impervious to food damage. Though it looks invincible, granite is porous. Mustard, for instance, will be impossible to remove once it has stained your furniture. Also, remember that we said heat is an enemy of furniture? That includes hot plates at the dinner table. You must place these hot items on a trivet, or placemat or risk badly damaging your furniture.
These five tips by no means constitute a comprehensive guide to caring for wood furniture. However, I do believe this will start you down the right path of proper furniture maintenance. With these tips as a starting point, I hope you will make your furniture last a lifetime or more. Thanks and good luck!
About the Author
Since 2004, eWay Furniture has been committed to bringing the best values and the highest possible level of customer service to the world of furniture. We search the world over to bring our customers high quality, small batch, hand crafted furniture from little known manufacturers whose commitment to quality is as serious as ours. We put this much effort into our business for one simple reason. We don’t want a customer today. We want a customer for life.
We ship furniture nationwide at our wholesale cost.
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