Take care of your furniture

Taking care of your wood furniture may not be as easy as you think. There are plenty of companies that offer sprays, oils or pastes that claim to ‘nourish’ and ‘feed’ the wood. I can assure you that the act of cutting the tree down and making it into furniture has ensured the wood’s death; there is no need to nourish or feed it any longer. These claims can lead to confusion and indecision about how to take care of your furniture.

When dusting furniture, I always recommend to my clients that you dry dust using a microfiber cloth. This technique doesn’t scratch the finished surfaces and does a great job at removing dust. If there is a surface stain, a rag dampened with water should do the trick. The problem with most furniture sprays is that they contain silicon. The silicon is what gives the furniture that glossy, almost wet look. The silicon actually attracts dust which means you have to dust more often. Also, if you ever have to get a piece of furniture refinished, the silicon that was in the spray will contaminate the wood during the refinishing process and will make it difficult for the new finish to adhere.

An easy way to revitalize a piece of furniture is to use a furniture wax made from bees wax. The bees wax does a great job at hiding minor scratches and giving the wood an even sheen. Simply apply the wax in a circular motion with a soft cloth and let the wax set for a few minutes. Then rub out the finish with a piece of 0000 steel wool (available at leevalley.com), moving the steel wool back and forth with the direction of the grain.

Check out my segment on Canada AM for a complete demonstration on using bees wax to give your tired looking furniture a revitalized glow.

Source : http://www.ctv.ca