Furniture Care Tips

Wood Furniture

Wood furniture is very sensitive to heat and humidity.  Dust frequently, lift objects and dust underneath (don't slide them as this might scratch the surface). Polish and wax only every few months as wax tends to build up.

Upholstery Furniture

Vacuum once a week and turn cushions to distribute wear.  When general cleaning is needed, check the label for care instructions.  Test the area to be cleaned.

Stain Removal:

• Water marks or rings-- place clean blotter over stain and press down with warm iron.  Repeat until ring is gone.  If that fails, apply cleaning polish or wax or apply camphorated oil with cloth, rubbing with the wood grains, wipe dry and repeat.
• Milk or alcohol--rub liquid or paste wax into the area. If that fails, rub in linseed oil and rottenstone (available in hardware stores).  Wipe dry and polish.
• Candle wax--harden wax with ice cube, wipe off moisture as ice melts.  Scrape wax off gently with a credit card.  Rub with cloth dampened with mineral spirits.  Rub area with liquid polish and wipe dry.
• Nail polish--rub area gently with fine steel wool dipped in liquid wax.  Wipe away polish and re-wax.
• Cigarette burns-rub area with scratch concealing polish.  If that doesn't work, apply rottenstone paste.  If the burn is too deep, refinishing may be required.
• Heat marks--rub area gently with dry steel-wool soap one small area at a time, wipe off excess powder.  Rub with cloth dampened in mineral spirits, rub dry with clean cloth and repeat.

Scratch Removal:

• Plastic-use automobile wax to fill in minor scratches.
• Darkwood-rub dark stain that in the same shade.
• Mahogany or cherry-apply aged or darkened iodine.
• Maple-use aged or darkened iodine diluted with denatured alcohol.