The holiday season is coming soon and healthy furniture plays a big role in making a home welcoming. Caring properly for your furniture does not take much time or experience. Knowing a few tricks and using the right materials is all it takes to help your furniture become and remain part of the family for several generations.
Before filling your cabinets with goodies do your furniture and your wallet a big favor by throwing away all your silicone based products (such as Pledge). The silicone goes deep into the fiber of the wood, which not only prevents it from breathing (much like daily make-up never removed) but also renders refinishing extremely difficult.
Recycle your family’s old socks and t-shirts. Cotton and particularly wool make the best buffers! Cut your t-shirts or wool pullovers into large squares and store them and old socks in a box, next to your cleaning and waxing products.
Wax your furniture at least twice a year (fall and spring) with a good bee’s wax (paste or spray form) and buff. There are several good brands on the market but Liberon makes an excellent Clear Black Bison Paste Wax and Fine Spray Wax and is easily found on-line (www.thefurnitureconnoisseur.com) or in specialty stores such as Rings End. (Please read next month's newsletter for instructions on how to clean and polish your furniture)
White water rings and heat marks are not necessarily permanent. The sooner you take care of it, the greater the chance of removing it. I often use and recommend Liberon’s Furniture Ring Remover. Follow directions on the back.
Remove candle wax when cold with a flat wooden spatula. Then wax and buff over the area.
Remove sticking paper by soaking it with vegetable oil and rub lightly along the grain of the wood with very fine (0000) steel wool. Wipe dry, wax and buff.
Keep your shoe polish at hand and use the lightest shade of the furniture finish to fill in little knacks and scratches. Then wax normally with your paste wax and buff.
Never hesitate to contact me or your primary furniture restorer when in doubt, and start enjoying the holiday season by celebrating your furniture!
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