Almost every home has furniture made from wood. Wood adds not only a natural element to your home but also provides great versatility to transform itself with any design or style. It is also highly durable and can last for years and years.
Although with passing time, the polish applied to the wood furniture might fade. It happens because of some reasons like if you didn’t clean the furniture regularly, the direct sunlight hits the polish of furniture, or you didn’t clean the furniture perfectly, etc.
Your wood furniture might get stains or scratches from various things and it would look so ugly until you can’t clean it properly. Cleaning the wood furniture can give a new life to it and it may look like a brand new piece of furniture.
Wood requires very little maintenance if you take care of it properly. Some people even didn’t know how to remove smudges from wood furniture and they did mistakes that can cause damage instead of giving it a neat look.
To tackle such a situation, Design Furniture brought a guide for you on how to clean wood furniture. By following this cleaning guide, you will clean your wood furniture and wash wood floors like a pro.
Tools & Material Required For Cleaning Wood Furniture
When it comes to cleaning your wooden handmade furniture, you’ll need certain tools and equipment to ensure the product isn’t damaged in the cleaning process. The following items are fantastic for this:
Materials Used For Cleaning Wood Furniture
- Mineral spirits
- Dish wash detergent
- Cotton
- Teabags
- Wood wax
- Disposable electrostatic dusters
Tools Required
- Cotton balls, rags, or clothes
- Rubber gloves
- Bucket
- Microfiber cloths
- Sponge
How To Clean Wood Furniture?
If you come to know that your wooden furniture is damaged because of improper cleaning methods, then you must have to use the method of cleaning. There are different ways of cleaning that can give a new life to your furniture.
In this article, we will guide you on how to clean wood furniture perfectly by using different methods. We divide the wood furniture cleaning into 3 different categories:
- Routine Cleaning
- Deep Cleaning
- Removing Stains Properly
1. Routine Cleaning
In a routine cleaning process, clean or dust the wooden furniture regularly. This category involves:
a) Dust Regularly
Clean the dust that furniture catches regularly. Use microfiber cloth of the electrostatic duster for removing the dust regularly.
Not only clean the top side but also take care of legs and arms and other areas of the furniture. Use a soft cotton cloth after dusting to remove the remaining dirt and give shine to the furniture.
b) Clean Spills Immediately
The stains caused by liquid spills and condensation from the drinks are normal and happened on a daily basis. Clean away these spills on a regular basis, otherwise, they would create a permanent mark on the furniture.
Use a paper towel to blot these liquid spills immediately. If the furniture got some kind of a sticky mess, then dip the cloth in the water and rub it on that place you want to clean. When it gets moistened, wipe the sticky mess and instantly use a dry microfiber cloth to clean it and make the wood shine again.
c) Remove Massive Dirt
If the wood furniture has been in stock or neglected to clean, then it will catch heavy dirt on it. You can easily clean this massive grime easily by making a solution of one teaspoon of dish wash detergent and adding 2 quarters of water to it.
Then dip a soft cloth or sponges in it and squeeze it until it gets slightly damp. Now wipe away the dust easily and then use a dry cloth to give the shine back to the wood furniture.
2. Deep Cleaning
The surface of wood furniture becomes cloudy/dark if too much wax or polish is applied to it. There are different ways to clean it and protect the wood. You can start at the beginner level and then use pro methods if you really need to do that. Deep cleaning involves the following methods:
a) Use Mineral Spirits
Mineral spirits are a petroleum distillate used to dilute oil-based paints and remove waxy textures, stains, and varnishes. Don’t forget to wear protective gloves when using this method and must do this work in a ventilated environment.
Now place this liquid on the rag and wipe the wood furniture with it. Use the clean area from the rag when it gets dirty. Do this until the whole furniture is cleaned. Buff the wood with a soft and dry cloth at the end for giving it a proper finish.
This method can also be used as a hard floor cleaner for wiping out the wood flooring that caught various stains easily.
b) Clean With Black Tea
The tea has tannic acid that can cut the waxy texture stick to the wood surface. Infuse the 2 black tea bags in 2 cups of hot water.
When it becomes cold, dip a soft cloth in this solution and rub it on the surface until it gets moisture. Now wipe away the furniture gently in the wood’s direction grain. Then rinse that cloth into the water to remove dirt.
Now again, dip the cloth into the solution, rub, and wipe it away. Continue this process until the whole furniture is cleaned properly. After this, use a soft dry cloth for buffing the furniture to shine.
3. Removing Stains Properly
Sometimes our wooden furniture gets stains because of different reasons. It may look like a tough task, but it is so simple and easy to do. You can remove the following stains and marks from the furniture easily:
a) Remove Ink Marks
Sometimes the kids write on the furniture with ballpoints or markers that leave marks on the wood furniture and give an ugly look. You can easily remove these marks by dipping a moist soft cloth into the dry baking soda.
Then nuzzle this cloth on the area where the ink marks are placed. Rub this area until the stains or marks disappear. Now use another clean damp cloth to wipe the baking soda residue from the surface of the furniture. Then wipe up the moisture with a soft and dry cloth.
After this, apply some wood polish on that area because the baking soda may cause the dullness of the furniture’s surface. Furniture polish and wax for wood can help you give back the shine to wooden furniture.
b) Remove Water Rings
Watermarks or rings can be left on the furniture surface because of placing the wet glass or cups on the wooden tables. Wipe them immediately whenever you see these marks have been placed on the furniture.
You can remove these water rings on wood by applying two different methods. The first one is to apply some mayonnaise or olive oil on the marked area and rub it. Now leave it for an hour and then buff it away.
The second method is to get non-gel toothpaste on a soft cloth and rub it on that area until the rings or marks disappeared.
c) Remove Glue or Stickers
Many people think that removing the glue or stickers from the surface of the wooden furniture is a tough task, but it’s not the reality. You can easily remove the glue or sticky elements easily from the wood furniture.
You can use the edge of a credit card to lose the sticky residue as much as possible. Then put some olive or mineral oil on a soft cloth. Now rub this cloth on the affected area until it gets expunged.
Conclusion
This is all about how to clean wood furniture? We discussed all the stains and marks the wood furniture can get and provided the best solutions for removing these stains. I hope this guide will help you a lot in the cleaning process of wooden furniture.
If you didn’t understand something about this, you can ask by posting a comment. We will guide you.
