Tips for Wood Furniture Care and Cleaning and Polishing Your Furniture
Here are some guidelines to follow to care for your wood furniture, clean your wood furniture, and polish your wood furniture.
- Dust regularly with a soft cloth. Start at the top, and work your way down to the floor, letting gravity help you do your work. Wash or change your dusting cloth often, so you don't scratch your wood with the tiny dust particles that you collected on your cloth the previous times you dusted.
- Use a high quality microfiber dusting cloth to pick up the maximum amount of dust. One check for a quality microfiber cloth is: if a microfiber cloth catches on your skin, it may be too rough for your furniture, and it may create small scratches on your furniture.
- Clean your wood with a natural oil based cleaner to remove dust, grease, and grime. Lemon oil is a very good natural wood cleaner, and Jamestowne's Furniture Polish uses lemon oil made from California lemons.
- Wood furniture is very sensitive to humidity and is always changing. When the humidity is high (often during the summer), wood furniture absorbs the moisture and expands. When the humidity is low (often during the winter), wood looses its moisture and shrinks. Avoid placing your wood furniture directly in front of heating and air conditioning vents. That will help reduce the expansion and contraction due to changes in humidity. Protect your furniture by polishing with a wax based polish. Wax polish will help your wood retain its normal level of moisture. Jamestowne Fine Furniture Polish contains natural Carnauba wax.
- Sunlight will also damage your wood furniture. Keep your furniture out of direct sunlight. Renew your wood with natural oils to restore the wood's glow and patina. Jamestowne Furniture Polish's natural oils are easily absorbed by wood.
- Water can dramatically harm the finish on your wood furniture. If water is spilled on wood furniture, immediately wipe it up, and apply Jamestowne Fine Furniture Polish onto the area where the water was. The natural oils in the Jamestowne Fine Furniture Polish will be absorbed by the wood and restore it.
- If water has accidentally been left on wood furniture for a period of time, the water will leave a stain. If you come upon a water stain, apply Jamestowne Fine Furniture Polish to the damaged area. Often the Jamestowne Fine Furniture Polish will restore the wood to its original appearance.
- When the wood has been badly damaged by water, multiple applications of Jamestowne Fine Furniture Polish may be needed to restore the water damaged wood to its appearance. As your wood furniture absorbs the natural oils, the wood will start to return to its original look. If the damage is severe, you may need the help of a professional woodworker to restore your furniture.
- If the finish on your wood furniture simulates a different kind of wood than the actual wood itself, water damage will need to be repaired by a professional woodworker and refinisher, to restore the applied finish that was used on your wood furniture.
- If the condition of your wood furniture if of severely damaged wood that has been warped by water, only a professional woodworker may be able to help restore your furniture.
- Wood furniture can more easily absorb natural oils from a liquid. So, for easy application and better absorption into your wood, use a liquid furniture polish and cleaner.
- Reduce the damage of scraps, scratches, and nicks that are caused by normal furniture use by applying a gentle coating of a quality furniture polish with a good strong wax to your furniture. This does not mean put on a thick heavy coat of wax on your furniture. A thick heavy coat will not allow the wood to breathe, and that would be harmful to the wood. A light coat of wax that covers your wood will help defray the force of light impacts to your wood. The strongest natural wax is Carnauba wax and Carnauba wax is the wax used in Jamestowne Furniture Polish.
- Don't use petroleum based oils. Tthose oils will ultimately cause the wood to dry and crack.
- Be aware of the use of spray furniture polishes, for most of them contain silcone. Silicone based oils can also be detrimental, especially if the wood is to be refurnished. Silicone will be permanetly absorbed into the wood, and silicone often inhibits the adherance of refinishing stains, even after chemical stripping.