Wood Furniture Maintenance

Wooden furniture has remained ever-present in furniture trends, and for good reason. Maintenance and care of wood furniture are pretty similar no matter the type of wood. However, when the furniture has different finishes, it will need a varied approach to its maintenance.

A lot of wood furniture for the hole has a lacquer or varnish applied. These protect the furniture from wear and tear. When we talk about a wood seal, we refer to something matt that soaks into the wooden furniture. On the other hand, a lacquer makes the furniture have a hard layer. This lacquer can be in silk or gloss.

The color of wooden furniture naturally changes with age. This color change can be accelerated if the furniture is exposed to different elements, like direct sunlight. The finish type will depict how much of a change there might be. A surface with lacquer on top won’t change color as obviously.

Common problems with wooden furniture maintenance

There are lots of problems that people have with their wooden furniture. Firstly, the surface can be damaged with harsh cleaning products like bleach or one that contain abrasives. Secondly, wood furniture can develop burns from when hot items like a cup of coffee have been put onto it. To avoid this, you should always require people to use coasters.

If a piece of furniture is exposed to too much direct sunlight, this can damage the surface and the lacquer. Even in places with little sunshine this can happen.

If the furniture is placed in a room with fluctuating temperature, it can split or warp. This can also happen if there are problems with the humidity.

Cleaning and care of wooden furniture items

When a piece of furniture like a table has a lacquer, you need to check that your cleaning products won’t damage this layer. If, for example, the cleaner contains ammonia, you’ll want to avoid putting this on your furniture. If ever you’re in any doubt, you can’t go wrong with good old soap and water!

Maintaining sealed wood furniture.

Often, seals require new coats to be applied. The frequency of this re-application will depend on how often the furniture has been used and how often you’ve cleaned it, and what with. When you notice that the surface of the furniture appears dull, it’s time to consider reapplying the seal.

For scratches and marks on a sealed surface, you can use fine sandpaper to remove the scratch before applying a new seal to restore the furniture’s beauty.

Maintaining lacquered wood furniture

A strong protective layer is provided with a coating of lacquer. This can even last years. As far as cleaning goes, you can use standard furniture polish, which will help to disguise any shallow scratches. However, if the furniture is unfortunate to have a chip in its lacquer, you’ll find that this is hard to fix.

Shallow wood chips – ones that don’t go through the lacquer – can be unsightly. To remove this, you should use fine sandpaper to sand the area before using a furniture polish to disguise it. Furniture polish will give the surface a lovely shine.

For more substantial wood chips, you can get special products and services that touch up bigger chips. If you discover that the wooden surface underneath the lacquer is discolored or damaged, you might need to sand down the entire thing to repaint and re-seal. However, this could be costly, and it might just be work replacing the top of the furniture if that is possible.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re maintaining kids’ bunk beds, wooden day beds, bookshelves, nightstands, or drawers, do your research. Ensure you know what type of wood you’re dealing with and how it is treated. When well looked after, wooden furniture can last generations!