Furniture Care

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from customers is “How do I take care of my furniture now that it’s been refinished?” The fact that the furniture has been refinished and now has an adequate protective coating is in itself, very helpful. A good protective coating reduces the exchange of moisture between the wood and the air, which helps eliminate expansion and contraction of the wood, which can lead to cracking, warping and failure of glue joints. This is why in addition to the multiple coats of finish we apply to all exposed surfaces, we make sure to apply at least one coat of finish to areas you don’t even see, like the underside of table tops, inside dresser casings and under chair seats.

Once all this protective finish is applied to your furniture, the only thing left to do is to protect the finish. The lacquer finish we apply to your furniture requires very little care. 

We recommend that you apply a good quality polish to all exposed surfaces about four times a year. We recommend that you use a water-emulsified furniture polish. A water-emulsified polish cleans oily based dirt as well as water soluble dirt like food. It will have a milky white appearance. Some examples of this type of polish are Guardsman, Pledge and OZ. Make sure you always buff off any excess polish with a dry rag every time you apply it. Otherwise, you are sure to get a wax build-up. If you do get a build-up after time, you can use Murphy’s Oil Soap or mineral spirits to clean off the build-up, and then re-polish to get the shine back. This sometimes takes a few applications. Lemon Oil can also be used to clean and polish the surface.

Another way to care for your furniture is with paste wax. Paste wax offers the best protection against abrasion and does not evaporate as quickly as furniture polish. It is however, more difficult to apply. Also remember that it’s not a good idea to use regular furniture polish on a surface that you have paste waxed. The solvent in the furniture polish will dissolve the wax and leave you with a mess. It’s best to choose one or the other. We recommend using paste wax on surfaces that don’t require cleaning as often, like the fronts of drawers, sides of dressers, or the top of a table that doesn’t get a lot of use. This way, the shine of the wax will last for months.

On a surface that gets a lot of use, like a kitchen table top or coffee table top, we recommend that you use polish. This way, you can re-polish as necessary to thoroughly clean the surface. As far as every day dusting, I recommend a soft duster or cloth just slightly dampened with water.