How to give some TLC to your wooden furniture.

This article is going to show you how to maintain all of your wood furniture. As surprising as it sounds the less you do to your wood furniture the better, varnished wood furniture should be cleaned once a week using nothing more than a microfiber cloth and water, this removes any dust and the microfiber helps shine up the surface. If your wood is unfinished just clean it using a dry microfiber cloth, because moisture can parch and/or warp the wood. To determine if your wood is unfinished just add a drop of water to the surface, if it beads then it’s got varnish and if it absorbs and leaves a little mark which will dry up in a couple minutes it’s unfinished.

But what about furniture polish, aren’t we supposed to use that? According to many manufacturers of popular furniture polish brands, wood polish is designed to bring out the shine of your wood and to polish and protect your furniture, but here’s the kicker not all wood and wood finishes are created equal, because different wood specimens and varnishes have different requirements, so furniture polish is really not an all-in-one solution. Moreover, here’s a misconception: it doesn’t even clean anything, in fact it can dull the finish and leave a buildup on your furniture over time, so feel free to leave store-bought furniture polish out of your cleaning kit. If you have been overusing furniture polish and you find your wood is super dulled out, you’ll see this haze or streaks that you just can’t get rid of. What you can do to manage that is apply a bit of vegetable based enzyme cleaner to sit on the wood for a couple of minutes, which will sort of remove that buildup and then you can wipe that away with a cotton cloth and buff it dry. If you can’t find that you can use steeped black tea to do this, the tannins and the tea will help break down that dull finish and reveal a beautiful shine.

When do you polish your furniture and how often? The simple answer is to do it whenever the wood looks dull or uneven, we recommend that you just make your own furniture polish in a clean spray bottle. Add one part white vinegar to three parts olive oil and shake well, spray the polish onto a soft cotton cloth and apply in a buffing motion to the wood furniture, the oil moisturizes the wood and the vinegar cleans it, remember that using it too often will create a sticky build-up which attracts dirt and dust. You can also use this mixture on antiques, however be very careful when dealing with old antique pieces or furniture made from exotic wood, they may very well have specific cleaning requirements, so do your research.

If you have heat or watermarks you can restore the wood by applying mayonnaise to the area, leaving it overnight and then buffing it into the table in the morning. This one may be hard for you to do if you have some kind of aversion to mayonnaise, but it definitely works so well on wood, it just does a great job keeping your wood furniture in tip-top shape. Preventative maintenance is also crucial, always wipe up spills and messes as soon as they happen and try to use placemats and coasters whenever possible to avoid scratching. Dust the surface frequently with a clean, soft, dry cloth. Try to keep your wood furniture away from fireplaces and radiators, the surface finish may be burn-resistant but the wood beneath the finish is not and can be charred. Do not drag objects across finished surfaces. Exposure to strong sunlight should be avoided. The surface finish is fade proof but the wood beneath may change in color from extended exposure to sunlight. If you do all that, your wood furniture is going to last you for a real long time.