Caring for wood furniture.

We all love our wood furniture, and we would probably love it more if it wasn't so easy to damage. But much like a child who has just gotten their fourteenth body piercing, you love it despite it's flaws.

There's good news though! Unlike some unruly teen, there are specific steps you can take to ensure that your wood furniture doesn't become riddled with holes, markings, and Faux-Hawked boyfriends whose band is about to make it big...

Step 1: Why wood?

Because i'm having a hard time trying to come up with a way to carry on the teen-aged daughter joke, I'll explain this in real terms.

Wood is a great material for a first furniture set, or for a furniture set that will be in a high danger area, such as a play room or nameless back alley bar which is known for random outbreaks of Five Finger Fillet. Dents, scratches, cracks, and chips can either be buffed out or puttied up with out being too obvious (though, more than likely it won't be an exact match).

If granite or glass ever becomes chipped or cracked, that piece is, for the most part, broken forever. Wood, on the other hand, can be nailed or glued back together; and while it may not remain beautiful, it will remain functional.

Similarly, if leather or cloth were to become stained, they are almost certainly destined to stay that way. Wood can easily be re-stained or re-painted. Much like that teenager...

Nope, I just can't get it to work.

Comments

[Shinta786]

the tree is 43 years and 2months old. Gimme £10.

[big trav]

dunno about the 10 pound but I would give ya some wood if thats you in the picture...lol

[Shinta786]

lol, not me, my wife. I use her pics and she does mine, lol. We are Persians, thnx for the "compliment". So, I get the wood?

[bigt4616]

lol, burrrrnn awkwardly tho, my name is travis too O_o

[Derin]

9.

[Pollpaint]

I have a dark timber TV cabinet that one of the kids decided to put a stone model of a home made house onto.It has left numerous scratches and two small dents where the timber has been pushed down. Someone told me that you can steam the dents up. Is this right or is there any other way please. Also any ideas of how to cover a mail varnish remover mark on a dark timber coffee table. thankyou.

[Cat on my Lap]

"We all love our wood..."

[jeff-o]

In all, a very informative and entertaining read. I'd suggest keeping references to your website to a minimum though. How about sponsoring the next contest? Perhaps one on making furniture? The prize could be some high-quality wood polish. ;)

[Nowells Furniture]

Yeah, I think I got a little too carried away on this on, but I do love the WINK WINK joke.

[canida]

Useful information, imparted with a sense of humor. ;) Any advice for what to do after the inevitable wear occurs? I've got some wear on the crossbars under our wood chairs (people and their shoes!) as well as a bit of denting and sun-damage. I'll try to avoid more problems, but what's the best way to cover/fix these minor injuries?

[Nowells Furniture]

It's hard to say what you'll have to do to fix a piece without seeing it first hand. If there are minor scratches along the finish, you might try to hire someone to refinish your table, or even attempt to refinish it yourself. I don't condone refinishing your own wood unless you know what you are doing. But I have the feeling this group is all about the DIY route... For larger dents or scratches which have discolored the table, wood markers or wood putty can fix most of your problems. You should test them in an inconspicuous place first to make sure the color matches up, and look at it under different lights and angles to make sure the texture and sheen are similar. If you are in NC check us out, but if you can't make it that far, you can buy the wood markers and putty at ACE, Lowe's, or any similar store. If there is a large area that has been beaten down on, you might consider sanding and re-staining the entire piece. It's not an easy job but if you do it yourself you can get it done cheaply in a weekend. Though an at home job might not have the same quality look that your table had when you first got it. Like I said in the article, the sun only exists to ruin furniture, if you have a sun damaged piece it is damaged for good. You can get it resurfaced professionally, but unless it is relatively new, or still in immaculate condition otherwise, it might behoove you to get a new one.