Caring the furniture.

Furniture is the household product that is purchased to be used. Every furniture product needs to function and sure will be damaged after being used for a long time. But with proper care, the furniture product can stay longer. And the old, aged wood furniture can be valuable since it can become an antique product.

To do better caring for the furniture, we need to recognize the factors that cause damage to the furniture product. Some major factors that cause the furniture damage are: the physical impact, direct sunlight, oxidation, too hot temperatures, and water immersion. The proper maintenance for the furniture means that we need to minimize the defects caused. 

Here are some tips for caring for the furniture.

• Avoid the physical abuse.

When used, the furniture products will undoubtedly experience collisions and physical deterioration. But the hard physical abuse, such as hot objects, rough objects, or chemical abuse, will cause physical damage to the furniture. The too-hard physical abuse may even be able to damage the shape or construction of the furniture. The big damaged furniture even needs to be repaired by stripping off the finish, reconstruction, resanding, and refinishing that need to be done in the finishing shop by the carpenter expert.

The top table or top panel of the cabinet is the most frequently object to the physical abuse. Put tablecloths on top panel or reduce the physical on the surface. Use the hot pad to place the hot cup or hot plate. Some working tables are even protected with glass to provide better protection from the physical damage. But do not use plastic, because the plastic can stick to the surface finish and damage the finish.

• Avoid furniture from direct sunlight.

The indoor furniture is usually finished with indoor finishing materials that are not designed to withstand the direct sunlight. The direct sunlight will cause damage to the finish, such as color and gloss faded color. Too strong sunlight will cause the finishing peel off. The outdoor furniture is finished with special material to withstand the weather climate, but it will deteriorate faster when it is more often exposed to sunlight. 

• Avoid too high temperatures.

The finish may react with the oxygen in the air to make the color change for the finish look and color. The high temperatures will cause the oxidation reaction to happen faster. So avoid the furniture from the heat as far as possible.

• Avoid stagnant water on the furniture.

The finishing layer on the furniture generally is not designed to place water. The water on the finish for a long time is high risk to enter and soak into the wood finishing and damage the finishing. The water immersion also has a high risk of damaging the furniture. It may soak the wood and swell the wood. 

Some special finish is needed to layer the parts of furniture that are often exposed to water, like a bath or sink. But it should not be used to collect the water for a long time. If there is any puddle of water, it should be immediately wiped and dried so it is not stagnate for too long.

• Clean the finish with paste wax or liquid polish.

A finishing layer can be cleaned by using a liquid polish or paste wax. There are many different types of wax, such as beeswax, paraffin, or carnauba wax. They are made of some different material, but they have similar properties. They have been used to clean the furniture since long ago. Apply the paste wax, covering the entire surface; let it dry for awhile; then clean up the excess with a clean cloth. We may need to put pressure when applying the cloth. The smooth cloth is needed; the rough cloth is risky to scratch the finishing surface. The wax can polish the dull and dirty finish to bring back the shine. Wax also creates a smooth and slippery surface; it can help to reduce the friction and water in small amounts. The dust and water are tending to slide over rather than dig into the finish.

Liquid polish has the properties and application is similar to wax, but this material is a liquid. Liquid polish also works very well in cleaning dirt on the surface finish, but he will soon evaporate and leave a dry surface compared with paste wax that still leaves a wet-looking finish.