Not many people know what they are getting themselves into when purchasing solid wood furniture. They do not know that it needs proper care and regular maintenance to keep its look and durability. However, the good news is that, if properly taken care of, solid wood furniture will last a lifetime, if not more. It should be noted that every piece of furniture needs to be taken care of, so it does not matter if it is one of the dining chairs, the coffee table, or your oak dining table.
The first thing you should know is that humidity and heat are the number one enemies of any hard wood furniture. The humidity of a room affects the hard wood by either expanding it or shrinking it. For example, if the humidity in a room is very low, so the air is very dry, the furniture will shrink. This means that tiny cracks may start appearing on the surface of the wood, or certain pieces of the furniture may no longer align properly. This does not only look bad, but it is also dangerous for the health of the furniture. The problem fixes itself if the humidity in the room rises, as the wood expands and fills the cracks.
On the other hand, high humidity is also damaging to the furniture. It causes the furniture to expand and cause drawers for example to get stuck, or to prevent wardrobe doors from opening. It is very important to maintain a constant humidity of 25 to 35 percent in a room, to ensure that the furniture does not suffer any changes.
Heat, as mentioned above, is the other major enemy of furniture. You should never place hard wood furniture on heated floors, nor should you keep furniture close to radiators, fireplaces or other sources of heat. This also includes direct sunlight, as prolonged exposure to sun rays can damage the furniture permanently, so it is important to pick a good spot for your furniture, one that is protected from the sun, and if you cannot find one, you should at least draw the curtains when the sun is shining directly on the curtains.
All furniture manufacturers include instructions on how to properly care for it, so those should always be followed. Besides those instructions, you can also use a sponge submerged into a solution created out of non alkaline soap and water, to wipe the furniture. Keep in mind that the sponge should be just damp, and the solution should not be pouring from it. If too much solution is used it can damage the furniture. To make sure that the solution is good and that it does not damage the furniture you should first test it on an area that is out of sight. Make sure you dry it immediately after use and then buff it following the grain of the furniture.
Waxing and polishing is also regularly recommended. Waxing should be performed every six to ten months, and the old wax needs to be removed before applying the new layer. The old layer can easily be removed by using the same solution made out of non alkaline soap and water. Urethane finished furniture should never be waxed, as instead of helping the furniture you will be causing it to gather dust and dirt.
Stains can also be an issue with hard wood furniture, so it is important to know how to remove stains from any furniture, be it an
oak dining table, or a
coffee table. There are numerous solutions that can be used to remove stains from furniture, but it should be noted that most of these solutions also damage the finish of the furniture. Before using such a solution on a stain, it is important to use it in a portion of the furniture that is not visible, or on other pieces of furniture such as
dining chairs. There are natural remedies for stains as well, although their efficiency differs from one type of wood to another. This does not mean that they cannot damage the finish of the furniture as well though, so just like with regular solutions, natural remedies should also be tested in an out of sight area before being applied to the portion with the stain.
