How to maintain wooden furniture (+ 5 simple tips)

You have just made or bought your first piece of furniture yourself and if you want it to last, your wooden furniture needs good maintenance.
With the right actions and the right furniture maintenance product, your wooden table or wooden cabinet will remain beautiful for longer.
Which maintenance product you need for your wooden furniture depends on the finish of the wood.
This wood finish is used to protect your furniture against external influences.
The maintenance of wooden furniture can be divided into weekly and annual maintenance. If you are wondering how to maintain wooden furniture, well then I can tell you the following in short:

Use a monthly furniture care duster to keep dust from building an unpleasant film on the topcoat. Stains can be removed with a chamois that has been squeezed hard. Make sure to dry completely to avoid moisture damage.
Use topcoats like wax and oil at least once a year to rejuvenate the wood.

Different types of lacquer, oil, and wax can be used to finish furniture in a variety of ways.
In order to give you with the best possible maintenance assistance for your wooden furniture, I’ll tell you which furniture maintenance you should do based on the finish of your furniture, as well as a few practical ideas.

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What Wood Is Furniture Made Of?

Wooden furniture can be made from both solid wood and sheet material. Solid furniture is long-lasting, sturdy, and distinctive due to color, structure, and even microscopic hairline fractures.

Solid wood is a wonderful natural substance that is perfect for making furniture. Board material attempts to replicate the look of solid wood, however it is of lower quality.

100% solid wood

Solid wood furniture is composed of 100 percent natural wood. This is done with softwood (such as pine or fir) or hardwood (such as oak or beech). Different types of lacquer, oil, or wax can be used to finish solid woods. Because of my ecological and environmentally conscious viewpoint, I always like to finish my furniture with wax and oil.

Decorative Wood

For decorative wood, or sheet material, a core of laminated wood or chips is used. The most commonly used cores are such as chipboard, MDF, or plywood. Board material consists of coarse or fine wood fibers or veneers which are glued together and pressed together under high pressure. A veneer finish is applied to the outside of this core. The different types of decor that are commonly used are:

• Veneer layer (A thin layer of real wood of 1 or 2 mm)
• Melamine (Hard plastic layer, available in different colours)
• Opaque lacquer (A layer of lacquer such as white, black or high-gloss lacquer)
• Plastic foil (A foil layer with a printed wood structure)

Nowadays, a lot of furniture is made from this type of material. They have the advantage of being light and easy to work with. Because less qualitative wood can be used to make this decorative wood, these types of wood will be less expensive too. The disadvantage is that they are not as strong as solid wood.

How To Maintain Wooden Furniture

What to Clean Furniture With?

To clean furniture, it is best to use a microfibre cloth that is slightly dampened with plain water. Avoid aggressive maintenance products as much as possible. If this doesn’t work, you can remove stains by adding a natural soap.

Maintenance Of Furniture With Untreated Wood.

Sometimes you can choose to leave the wood untreated. This is to preserve the natural look of wooden furniture. For this type of furniture, it is extra important to take good care of it by removing dirt several times a week. Because your furniture does not have a protective layer, and it is important for the life of your furniture to keep the wood grease-free, I recommend that you clean your wooden furniture at least four times a year with a soap solution made from natural soap.

There is a high risk of stains or rings with untreated wood. The advantage is that if an unsightly stain or ring appears, it can easily be removed by sanding the wood a bit.

Maintenance Of Furniture With A Coating.

With solid furniture such as oak, walnut and beech wood that has been provided with a protective lacquer layer, the wood retains its natural matt, somewhat tough appearance. The grain of the wood also remains visible and tangible.

Paints are in many cases composed of chemical substances, which I personally try to avoid as much as possible because of my ecological vision. If you do have a cabinet with a lacquer finish, here is the best way to maintain it:

Paintwork can be cleaned weekly with a duster. This will usually be sufficient. The strong lacquer ensures that there is less chance of circles or scratches, making this type of finishing layer easy to maintain. If there are some small scratches, these can easily be removed with a polishing agent. To keep your wooden furniture fresh and clean, it is recommended to maintain a weekly cleaning and remove any scratches immediately if you discover any scratches.

Maintenance Of Furniture With A Wax Coat Or Oil Coat.

Wax and oil are my personal favorite finishing products. I really love to work with Rubio monocoat products, you will see more of that in future articles and YouTube videos about it. These natural protective agents will penetrate the wood, causing the wood to become saturated. By feeding the wood with wax or oil, the wood will absorb liquids less quickly, so that the chance of stains and circles is small.

The great advantage of this finish, in addition to the ecological and environmentally friendly aspect, is that the natural appearance is preserved. The grain of the wood remains tangible and the wood does not shine. It must be said, however, that oil does not provide the same protection as a harder coating.

To properly maintain your furniture that has been finished with wax or oil, it is advisable to clean your furniture weekly with a duster and to give a furniture maintenance treatment with wax or oil at least once a year. You do this by applying the oil or wax with a lint-free cloth, letting it soak for about 20 minutes and then removing all remaining product with a clean cloth. You do this with a massaging and circular motion (if you’ve ever seen the karate kid movies… wax on, wax off)

Maintenance Of Furniture With A White Wash.

Furniture that has been finished with a white whish is best maintained by keeping it dust-free every week. Just dusting should be enough. In any case, avoid aggressive cleaning agents, these can affect the whitewash.

To protect your whitewash, you can apply a layer of oil or wax. This will make your furniture easier to maintain. Once the wax has been applied, maintain your furniture just as described above for the maintenance of furniture finished with oil or wax.