How would you go about cleaning wood furniture, for example, a wooden table? Cleaning wood furniture, for instance a table or chair, can be done with furniture polish. Before cleaning wood furniture it is...
Before cleaning wood furniture it is best to remove any surface dust or dirt with a clean, dry cloth. Wipe gently, especially if the wood is soft. Hard pieces of dirt can scratch the surface of the wood if you press down on your dust cloth while wiping. Tables and desks, especially, are prone to scratches because tables often have hardened food crumbs on them, and desks often have items such as stray staples, paper clips, or broken pencil leads sitting on them. If these are wiped carelessly, they can leave hard-to-conceal scars on the surface.
Once the general dusting is finished, the cleaning itself can begin. Melissa Briones, owner of Melissa's House Cleaning in Lawton, Oklahoma, says, "You can use furniture polish for that. I wipe everything down from the top to the bottom, including the legs of the table." Ring marks, caused by setting down beverages without protective coasters, can usually be removed with a little extra polishing,so long as the ring affects only the finish and not the wood underneath.
Be sure to read the label on your container of furniture polish. Make sure you are using the proper cleaner or polish for the type of wood finish you are working with. If you are unsure about how a product will react with your furniture, try a little bit of it on an inconspicuous area to make sure you are happy with the results before spreading the cleaner over the entire surface.
Chairs can be cleaned in the same way as tables. You must, however, be mindful of the seat cushions, if there are any. Briones says, "If you have wooden chairs with cushioned seats, you will want to wipe them down and clean the wood with wood cleaner. For cloth seats, you can remove stains with any kind of stain remover or upholstery cleaner. For leather seats, you can wipe them down with leather cleaner. For vinyl seats, just use soap and water."
For cleaning a china cabinet, Briones recommends, "Dust it and wipe it down with furniture polish afterwards." You may want to remove any glass panes before spraying them with glass cleaner because these types of cleaners can damage the wood's finish.
To clean the glass without any remaining streaks, Briones says, "Use newspapers and Windex. What I do is crumble the newspaper up in to a ball, spray the Windex on the glass, and then I just wipe the surface dry."
Once your wood furniture is clean, you should protect it by placing coasters under glasses, mats under vases, and felt under items such as lamps, bookends, and decorations. As much as possible, keep your fine woodwork out of direct sunlight. Keep temperature and humidity moderate. It is best to keep wood furniture away from heating vents. If the wood becomes too dry, it can shrink and split. If the wood is in too humid of an environment it can absorb the moisture from the air, swell, and crack.
