People are always aware of the fact that they need furniture to lead a comfortable life with sophistication and elegance. Some furniture come with multiple benefits. While some come with storage space, others are to sit and relax. But, to add charm and a luxurious feel to your home, it is important to pre-plan your purchase of furniture. Pre-planning can help enhance your décor and create an overwhelming experience in the space. Selecting a good piece of woodwork is highly important, and wooden furniture care is a must to improve its overall beauty and keep all the stress away from you.
You can enhance the beauty of a typical contemporary-style living room with furnishings like a sofa, chair, occasional tables, bookshelves, TV, electric lamps, rugs, and other furniture. To experience warmth with the changing climatic conditions, sit in a room with a traditional fireplace and opt to provide warmth to make your near and dear ones feel cosy.
Wooden Furniture Damage: An Unavoidable Part of Furniture Care
Consider these two factors when choosing wooden furniture for your home.
- Timely Identification of Wooden Furniture Damage Saves Time and Effort on Your Part
- Wooden Furniture Damage and its Solutions Keep Changing Over the Time
To learn more about wooden furniture, its damages, and how to take precautions and maintain it, keep reading.
01. Timely Identification of Wooden Furniture Damage Saves Time and Effort on Your Part
Products like nail polish, ammonia products, perfume, alcohol, and much more can cause wooden furniture damage by leaving coloured stains on it. The entire hamper product possesses the potential to make a wooden item like a wooden stool, chair, or cabinet appear dueled and leave behind permanent ugliness with white marks. So, with the involvement of timely preventive measures, you can check for wooden furniture damage, which eventually saves you time and effort.
02. Wooden Furniture Damage and its Solutions Keep Changing Over the Time
Wood responds to environmental factors. The expansion and contraction occur with time, especially due to humidity, causing drastic changes. The results can change colour with time when exposed to air and sunlight.
Why is Wooden Furniture Care an Important Part of Your Home’s Care?
According to Margaret Boschetti (author of the article “Making Simple Repairs on Wooden Furniture,”) some wooden furniture repairs that you can perform on your own could take more time, effort, and money than you want to spend, or they might be properly managed by a professional. For example, fixing a broken leg of a chair or completely refinishing a piece of furniture takes time and is messy.
As wooden furniture is an important part of your home, and you can also decorate your space with wooden home decor, given below are the things you should keep in mind when planning for the maintenance of wooden furniture:
- Wooden Furniture Care: An Everyday Task for Better-Looking Furniture
- Clean Furniture: Hygienic Lifestyle for You and Your Loved Ones
- Wooden Furniture Cleaned Carefully Always Looks Good and Functions Properly
- Make Things Smoother with the Right Furniture Maintenance Regimen
Let’s have a look.
01. Wooden Furniture Care: An Everyday Task for Better-Looking Furniture
Generally, soft-furnished household items are breeding grounds for bacteria, pathogens, and dirt that serve as the building blocks of health risks. These pathogens proliferate further into the environment each time someone sits on them or makes use of them. Cleaning is very important to eliminate germs that make the environment unhealthy, and the air quality has only a trace of freshness. But for the kitchen, bathroom, and wooden floor, special attention needs to be given, as these spaces in any house are prone to germs.
02. Clean Furniture: Hygienic Lifestyle for You and Your Loved Ones
A hygienic lifestyle is ultimately important to prevent illness and disease. Lack of sanitation and cleanliness can affect you easily. For wooden furniture care, it is important to clean it thoroughly with the use of a damp mop without raising dust. Ensure routine wooden furniture care, cleaning, and disinfecting of equipment like furniture take place properly to keep the family safe from illness and diseases.
03. Wooden Furniture Cleaned Carefully Always Looks Good and Functions Properly
People may have misconceptions related to the cost and inconveniences caused by professional upholstery cleaning. But, with the involvement of professionals, the task becomes an extremely easy and even cost-effective solution in the long run. With the help of professional cleaning, your home becomes more inviting and highly functional. They are highly efficient in discovering the truth behind the maintenance of the heavy fabric.
04. Make Things Smoother with the Right Furniture Maintenance Regimen
Cleaning the furniture can easily get rid of nearly 70% of the airborne bacteria and approximately 80% of the surface-borne bacteria, which makes the environment safer to live in. The maintenance regimen comprises four main pillars: balance, proportion, rhythm, emphasis, and unity. This helps in offering opportunities for expressing the needs of the family, which come with either placing furniture or rearranging accessories.
How Do You Fix Wooden Furniture Damage?
Some important tips to keep in mind while minimising damage and maintaining your wooden furniture.
- Know your Wooden Furniture Type
- Stock Up on the Right Type of Cleaning Ingredients Best Suited for Your Furniture
- Set up a Cleaning Regimen
- Be Gentle on the Wood
Have a closer look at these ideas for wooden furniture care.
01. Know your Wooden Furniture Type
To learn more about how to fix wooden furniture damage and learn about the type of wooden furniture and wooden flooring, it is important to first inspect the grain texture and then investigate the grain pattern. Texture helps in indicating the hardwood quality, and grain pattern helps in identifying the type of wood. Softwood varieties have a smooth grain pattern, but hardwood is rougher and more porous. Look at the grain and feel it with a fingertip to detect its texture. Hardwoods like European oak or mahogany tend to have poor structure, whereas softwoods are delicately smoothed with zero indentation. Another worthwhile option is plain-sawn or quartz-sawn, which is formed at the time of cutting.
02. Stock Up on the Right Type of Cleaning Ingredients Best Suited for Your Furniture
To accomplish the task of cleaning, it is essential to have the ingredients that best suit the furniture. The cleaning process is categorised into the use of three different types of ingredients: cleaners, sanitizers, and disinfectants. The cleanser clears the clutter, dust, crumbs, and other detritus. Secondly, sanitizer causes a reduction in the ratio of germs, which eventually decreases the growth of microbes with the use of antibacterial solutions. A disinfectant provides value by destroying germs that spread infection by eradicating them from their source.
03. Set up a Cleaning Regimen
A good cleaning schedule can help you save time and effort simultaneously. To make a proper schedule, it is important to organise and distribute your tasks first and then invest time in creating a cleaning calendar. This helps in identifying the tasks and delegating them. A few routines must be done daily, while others can be executed weekly. You can de-clutter the bathroom cabinets annually and decal the shower heads every month. A professional quality check is a must to make the furniture run successfully in the long run.
04. Be Gentle on the Wood
It is essential to put a halt to the use of harsh cleaning products that can harm wooden furniture. To provide a refinishing touch, people assume that harsh chemicals can be an easy solution. But it has nothing to do with the truth. If any solution proves to cause adverse effects, then it’s a much better option to apply a mild solution of warm water and dish soap to effectively get rid of superficial dirt and grime.
Top Ten Signs of Old Wooden Furniture Damage and How to Fix These
While the maintenance of wooden furniture is an amazing experience, there are always so many things to care about with wooden furniture. To make things easier, please look at some tricks to prevent or fix wooden furniture damage.
- Cracks and Holes in Your Furniture
- Growth of Moulds
- Faded Paint on Your Furniture
- Swollen Wood
- Weak Wooden Furniture
- Scratches on the Surface
- Dryness of the Wood
- Loose Joints and Fixtures
- Broken Parts Due to Overuse
- Loose Upholstery and Fitting
The tips below go into detail on how to fix wooden furniture damage or wooden furniture repair. Let’s look at it.
01. Cracks and Holes in your Furniture
Cracks or holes in the furniture are vital signs of damage. This is the situation that arises due to the occurrence of pests. Pests can be anything, like woodworms, termites, and other pests that increase their dynasty on wood. Identify the pest, and then use an ideal pesticide or fumigation. In such a scenario, caulk or silicone proves to be the best friend for smaller cracks and holes. Bondo, epoxy, putty, or wood fillers are even nice options for wooden furniture repair to overcome this issue cost-effectively.
02. Growth of Moulds
Generally, neglected furniture is prone to mold growth on the surface. It develops due to dampness and moisture trapped on exposed furniture. Exposure of a wooden item to water and moisture at a suitable temperature can easily promote the growth of mildew and subterranean termites in softwood. Use water and a brush to be remove the molds.
03. Faded Paint on your Furniture
With the chipping off of the wooden paint on the old wooden chair or any furniture piece, signs of damage become more prominent. The major cause behind the deterioration of paint is the presence of water damage and pests. You can say that pests damage the paint by making their way into the furniture. So, it’s better to either make use of furniture paint stripping or repaint furniture to provide a finished touch. But before painting, it is important to trace out the actual reason, whether it is water or humidity; ensure that the furniture is in a dry place. Fumigation is the best solution for eradicating pests.
04. Swollen Wood
Shrinking or swelling in the wood occurs due to its moisture content, which eventually causes a change in shape. You need to determine the actual status of the wooden furniture. And if you detect that the furniture is damaged and beyond repair, then it is necessary to replace it. Some furniture recovers with the help of repairs and repainting, but it never goes for fixing weak furniture. It appears worthier for a limited period, but is more prone to accidents and injuries in the long run.
05. Weak Wooden Furniture
Weakness is a common sign of damage. Frequent falling of furniture causes weakening of the furniture and its joints. Another major cause of weak furniture is the attack of pests that eat wood. Moreover, the status of the furniture is determined by its usage and management. So, it is utterly important to put a check on damages and, as a proactive measure, include preventive options as a course of action.
06. Scratches on the Surface
You can use a paste of mineral oil and pumice for the maintenance of wooden furniture and to remove scratches. Both ingredients are easily available at hardware and paint stores. Make use of extra-fine-grade wool for rubbing on the scratched area of the furniture. Finally, wipe it, and then eventually pat it dry with the use of a dry cloth.
07. Dryness of the Wood
Generally, woods dry from the surface, which leads to the surface shrinking and causing the core to get compressed. When the surface has a lower moisture content, it eventually becomes resistant to shrinkage. The core of wood has a higher moisture content, due to which the core starts to dry and shrink. Paste wax is the best solution to fix this problem. This DIY wax is a combination of melted beeswax and paraffin, with the addition of oil. Make use of this paste by rubbing it on the furniture surface with a soft cloth, allowing it to dry, and then again buffing the area with a clean cloth in the direction of the grain.
08. Loose Joints and Fixtures
Maintenance of wooden furniture is important, and on discovering any loose joints, first confirm that the screw is tightly fixed. Then inject adhesives like plastic resin, epoxy, etc, using a glue injector. But if the joint is wiggling, then distribute the adhesive evenly throughout.
09. Broken Parts due to Overuse
Even after good wooden furniture care, it can get damaged due to overuse. In cases of minor scratches, a scratch cover serves as the best solution. People even go for liquid polishes to get rid of abrasion and retain the wood’s beauty. Restoration may be inevitable in cases of severe damage, as polishing may not be enough. And then paint it, with the only hope of breathing new life into the furniture.
10. Loose Upholstery and Fitting
Use glue to fix broken or split rungs and spindles. If the broken end gets separated, then remove the broken part and fix it with glue. Inject the glue into the cracked part. Join and press the two separated parts, and clear excess glue.
Earlier, most furniture joints were secured using nails, screws, dowels, pegs, and wedges. Nowadays, however, a variety of much stronger glues and longer-lasting are used, says Ralph Kinney (author of the book The Complete Book of Furniture Repair and Refinishing – Easy to follow guide with step-by-step methods)
In the end,
The above-mentioned article helps us understand the importance of maintenance on wooden furniture. You now know the significance of wooden furniture care, cleaning, and hygiene to enhance the beauty of a lavish interior. Wood furniture needs proper maintenance and care, and even a little negligence can cost you dearly. So, it’s important to examine the status of furniture, which prevents wooden furniture damage from advancing over time.
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FAQS
01. How can I identify the early signs of damage to my wooden furniture?
Scaling of the paint and fresh entry holes or cracks can serve as signs of damage in the early stages.
02. Which types of furniture cleaners should be applied to wooden furniture?
Make use of gentle, non-abrasive materials to clean wooden furniture. Soap solutions and vinegar, along with water make an excellent DIY blended solution.
03. How do you maintain the cleanliness of delicate wooden furniture?
Try to make a diluted solution by combining water and dishwashing soap. Wet a soft cloth in the solution, squeeze it out, and wipe the furniture piece with it. Be careful to use a damp cloth and not a wet one. Never saturate the wood; go for a good sponge down with the cloth often.
04. How do I know it’s time to upgrade my wooden furniture?
According to today’s report, the 5-year timeframe is the mid-period when people get used to things and suddenly do not enjoy change. But in the long run, 8 to 10 years is the time when changes are certain.
05. What’s the best advice for cleaning my regular wooden furniture?
Dust furniture regularly with a soft cloth to remove the built-up dust. This eventually safeguards the furniture against scratches. If the furniture is shiny, use a damp rug for cleaning. But never make the rug too wet, as it can damage the finish of the wooden item.
06. Tell me some easy ways to maintain my wooden sofa’s cleanliness.
Using a wipe or vacuum to get rid of maximum dirt and dust from the wooden sofa that is either painted or natural is highly recommended. Mix distilled white vinegar and dish soap drops together to make a spray. Spray it, and then use a cloth to wipe the wood and remove the extra burden of build-up.
Image Courtesy: Image 15, Image 16
Author Bio
Ruchi Singh – Ruchi is a full-time freelance writer and editor working for national and international clients. In her free time, she writes short stories, poetry and inspiring ebooks. She loves to spend quality time with her family.
For any content writing requirement, you can get in touch with her at toruchi22@gmail.com