Taking proper care of your furniture is very important. Every piece of Antiques need special furniture care to maximize its value, appearance and usability, because the beauty of antiques is often how the wood is aged as well as the other materials used. Here is some Important tips to maintain your antique furniture .
Type of cloth you have to use?
always use dusting cloth which is treated to attract and hold dust and leave furniture spotless. Also use only soft, lint-free, and absorbent cloth for cleaning and polishing.
How to polish your antique furniture?
Always use a quality furniture polish as it will lessen your chance of expensive refinishing jobs, the best advisable thing is to polish approximately once a month if possible.
If there happens to be any spills, clean it immediately, use a blotting action rather than wiping.
Do you know that the temperature, humidity, and light affect your furniture?
Avoid placing furniture in direct sunlight as sunlight causes fading. Try to avoid extreme humidity conditions as too high or too low humidity can cause wood to warp or the glue lines to fail. Avoid extreme changes in temperature. Arrange furniture away from radiators, registers, and air-conditioning units. .
Do you maintain the surfaces of the antique furniture properly?
Rotate accessories on furniture so they do not sit in the same spot all of the time. Avoid placing plastic or rubber objects on a wood finish as their ingredients react with those of the finish. Use pads, cloth or felt to protect the furniture surface from plastic, rubber, hot dishes, beverages, bookends, flower pots, and vases. Use protective pad when writing with a ballpoint pen. Lift and place objects, do not drag them across the furniture surface. .
How do you make repairs in your antique furniture?
Make minor repairs while they are still small. Use the proper materials or professional help to repair badly damaged surfaces. Avoid wax polishes and regular use of wax polishes may result in the build-up of wax film on the surface of the furniture, this build-up may pick up dirt, smoke, and other pollutants in the air, which may result in smudges and streaks. Use long enough, this may cause the finish to soften requiring expensive refinishing work. .
Wax build-up over time hardens, making it difficult to remove from the furniture’s finish. Avoid silicone polishes, the silicone oil is an ingredient used by many furniture polish makers to create a high degree of shine. Silicone seeps into even the most lacquered finishes, making it difficult to remove.
Should it become necessary to refinish a piece of furniture, silicone makes it a very difficult process even for a professional refinisher. Most furniture manufactures recommend using polishes that do not contain silicone.
We are Antique furniture dealers located Old plank Road, 25 miles west of Chicago. We receive containers from England and France every month, so our stock of around 25,000 antiques and reproductions is constantly changing. The year after we opened this second location, Chicago Magazine named us the best antique store in the area. For more info visit www.oldplank.com
