Antique wood furniture looks great and needs to be properly cherished and treasured. It reminds us of past generations and gives the entire home a clear touch of personality and class. You might collect fine wood furniture or just want to buy some antique items. Regardless of the case, when you own antique pieces, especially designer vintage furniture, proper care is necessary. You do not want to damage a family heirloom simply because of not taking the necessary steps to protect it. So, here is what you have to do to properly take care of vintage wood furniture.
Be Really Gentle
It does not matter what vintage furniture you own. You can have a great ornate chest that came to you from a relative somewhere else or a very small desk you found at a garage sale. Pieces that were very durable in the past can eventually wear down. This is why you have to be very careful with how you take care of the furniture. Small marks and scratches can easily devalue an entire furniture piece.
Use The Right Cleaning Materials
Two main materials are nowadays used in order to clean vintage furniture. These are wax and lemon oil. Whenever using the lemon oil option, take a tool to spread an even layer across the furniture. Then, take soft rags like worn old t-shirts. Rub the oil gently into the wood with these rags. Make circular, small motions and make sure you follow the grain. After some hours, you want to use a clean rag to scrub the grime and dust loose.
When you utilize furniture wax, you need to put your money into 4-0 steel wool. Dip this into the wax pot. Then, use the circular motion that was mentioned above. You want to rub furniture wax into the vintage furniture and, once again, never forget about grain direction. When you take this approach, you quickly remove the dust that is present and you even manage to reduce the appearance of the unsightly marks, like scratches.
Avoid Extreme Weather Conditions
You should always remember the fact that wood is very easy to be damaged when faced with extreme weather conditions. This includes situations like low humidity, high humidity, severe cold, and extreme heat. When exposed to these conditions, the wood will be negatively affected.
You need to store vintage furniture inside and not leave it outside. When you have to put items into storage, only choose the units that have climate controls. Preservation is very important whenever talking about antique furniture.
Final Thoughts
Vintage furniture can look great in practically any room if you pay close attention to interior design rules. However, there is no point in having such an item present when you do not properly take care of it. Besides the advice that was mentioned above, you should also take into account the specific indications that were mentioned by the manufacturer. They might give you vital data that you could use in order to be sure that your furniture gets the care that it needs, like what paint type to use and how to clean it.
