Cleaning Wood Furniture

When we take up the job of house cleaning, we often avoid cleaning wood furniture as they do not appear dirty because of the polish and oils on its surface. Though, the fact is that they are equally affected by the dirt and grime of the surroundings like any other household item. Cleaning wood furniture is a bit tricky because any wrong technique can damage the piece of furniture permanently.

How to Clean Wood Furniture?

Before you start cleaning wood furniture, you should be aware of the type of finish on the wood. This is because the kind of wood furniture cleaner to be used largely depends upon this. Basically, there are three types of wood finishes. One is the oil finish which is soft in touch, then there is polished wood which is finished with wax, varnish, etc. The last one is the painted wood furniture.

For daily cleaning of all types of wood furniture, use a dry soft cotton cloth to wipe of the dust from the surface of the wood. Painted wood furniture can be vacuum cleaned with the help of a brush attachment. To clean oiled wood furniture, you have to prepare a special wood furniture cleaner. Take equal quantities of turpentine and boiled linseed oil and mix them up thoroughly. Pour some of this mixture onto a piece of cloth and rub the surface of the furniture with it. As a result, the oil will get into the pores of the wood and the shine of the oil finish wood furniture will be restored. This should be done a few times every year.

When you want to clean your polished wood furniture, you have to use liquid furniture polish or paste wax. If you choose liquid furniture polish for this purpose, then you should know that it has to be applied quite frequently as its effect does not last for a long time. Paste wax are not very easy to apply, but if there are any scratches on the surface, it fills them up very well. There is aerosol polish found in the market which can be applied to clean polished wood, but the silicone content often makes the surface of the wood slippery. So, in future, if you wish to refinish the surface, it may be quite a difficult task.

The antique furniture that you have are your precious possessions. Therefore, you should take very good care of them. For getting rid of the regular dust, vacuum them with a vacuum cleaner or simply wipe off with a clean, soft cloth. Sometimes, you can use some solvent based cleaning wax to wipe them for the purpose of cleaning antique wood furniture thoroughly. Rubbing paste wax on the antique furniture is also good as they cover up small cracks of the furniture. After application of the wax, you should buff it well with a rag till the wax coating becomes hard.

Cleaning Stains from the Wood

Like any other furniture and decorative item of the house, wood furniture also suffers from different types of stains. Light cigarette burns often give ugly dark marks on the wood which can be removed by rubbing it with some amount of linseed oil. White patch marks are quite common on wood furniture which can be taken out with the help of a mixture of cigarette ash and lime juice or salad oil. Dip a clean piece of cloth into the prepared mixture and rub it over the stain, and you will find that the stain has disappear. To get rid of watermarks and rings from the wood furniture with a wax finish, you can mix up white toothpaste and salad oil and apply. Wipe it off with a dry cloth. After every stain removal, you must apply proper wood finish that is suitable for the furniture.

In case you are using any new cleaning products for cleaning wood furniture, you should read the label carefully to confirm that it is fit for your wood furniture finish. You should also test its compatibility by applying it on any hidden corner of the furniture. If you find that it is suitable, then only apply on the furniture.