There’s nothing quite like wooden furniture or floors to give a house a sense of home. Here’s how to care for yours.
Picture a family sharing a meal – happy chatter, heaped dishes being passed back and forth, and, at the center of it all, a wooden dining-room table providing yet another night of faithful service. Or think of a new mom, gently cradling her bundle of joy in the same rocking chair her own mother put her in when she was that size. Remember finishing your homework at the mahogany writing desk your grandfather sat at when he became the first in your family to receive a university education?
Wood carries memories like no other material. It’s timeless and, if you look after it, can be passed down through generations.
1. Dirty tricks
The first step to ensuring the longevity of your wooden furniture is to tackle dirty marks as soon as they appear, whether they are coffee rings or crayon scrawls.
Do not go in guns blazing – you don’t want any cleaning to ruin the wood’s finish. Start with the gentlest products and work your way up. Test your cleaning solution, no matter how gentle, on a small, discreet part, for example, the inside of a table leg. Just remember to keep your sponge barely damp, so as not to saturate the wood.
‘If the discolouration hasn’t penetrated too deeply into the wood, diluted white vinegar should remove it,’ advises Wytze Voerman of Wood Strippers Restorers and Showroom in Cape Town.
2. Polish like a pro
Never spray the polish directly onto your furniture. First, spritz it onto a soft cloth, then apply to the wooden surface. Polish with the grain and don’t forget to buff off any excess polish after 20 minutes.
3. Extra TLC
‘You can tell your furniture needs to be resealed when the surface appears dry or cracked, and grey, milky-looking marks appear,’ says Nida Desjardins of Atelier Desjardins, a specialist woodworking and restoration service in Northcliff. Furniture that’s been left to gather dust will probably also be quite grimy to the touch.
Mix three parts of linseed oil with one part of turpentine, then add to two cups of hot water. Dip in a super-fine steel wool (not the pad from your scullery) or a soft cloth and wipe with the grain to remove all the grime and old polish, and revive the wood. Polish and buff as usual.
As important is to choose your moment. ‘Don’t do restoration work in very hot or wet weather,’ advises Wytze. Wood can be very temperature sensitive, and you don’t want it at its most vulnerable in extreme conditions.
4. Walk this way
5. Scratches be gone
Superficial scratches in your wood? Halve a walnut, rub the meat of the nut along the scratch and presto – the scratch magically disappears.
6. Wipe away after rings
To lighten water rings on your precious coffee table, dab a little mayo onto just-made marks, leave for 30 minutes, then wipe away.
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Feature Image: Unsplash
