Usually, wood furniture is what represents an elegant and stylish home environment. This is because it holds incredible beauty and longevity which makes it a very valuable part of your home décor. Specifically, this endurance and ability to withstand many years make wooden furniture one of the most desirable home pieces. However, there are steps you have to take some precautionary steps to protect wooden furniture from damage. In order for it to keep its prime condition after years and years, you need to take extra good care of it.
Although it must seem like hard work, you can pretty easily protect your wooden furniture from damage. Namely, if you know what you’re doing, it’s actually not that big of a challenge. In fact, you can take just a few easy steps and safety measures. In doing so, you will easily protect your wooden furniture from damage, scratches, dents, and stains.
Simple tips to protect wooden furniture from damage
Scratches
Simply put, avoid placing items with sharp edges near or onto your wood furniture can easily save it from damage. Therefore, make sure you pay extra good care of the following:
- What you put on your wooden furniture
- How you put it on your wooden furniture.
Firstly, you should never toss hard objects with sharp edges directly to your wooden furniture. To avoid this, consider getting small bowls and trays for your belongings. You can easily place them atop tables and stands next to your doors. In this way, you will avoid tossing your keys, watches, and similar items directly to the wooden surfaces. Also, avoid dragging dishes and glasses across your wooden furniture. Vases are also included in this. One way to get used to just picking things up is to start regularly using coasters, pads, and mats. These will protect your wooden furniture from damage. However, make sure you don’t use plastic and rubber pads on natural wood. You should avoid this since rubber and plastic have a negative effect on your wood. Specifically, they can soften or damage the beautiful finish.
Furthermore, line the bottoms of your lamps, frames, art, collectibles, and all other decorative items you keep on wooden furniture. Specifically, line them with felt or cork pads since that will protect your wooden furniture from damage. Also, don’t forget to always use linen and cotton tablecloths and placemats while eating. However, you should probably avoid using vinyl tablecloths. This is because they tend to leave residue on wooden surfaces.
Moreover, you should never use craft supplies, polish, and similar things directly on top of your wooden furniture. This is because they can have a chemical effect on the wood and easily damage it before you can do anything to save it.
Sun Damage and Heat
You probably already know that wood sustains damage when it’s in direct sunlight and intense heat. Namely, it dries out too much which leads to it shrinking and cracking. Also, its fine and glossy finish will quickly fade if you expose the wood to sunlight and heat. In order to protect your wooden furniture from the damage of the sun, you have to pay attention to a few things.
Firstly, keep wooden furniture far away from direct sunlight. In this way, you will ensure that its glossy finish is safe from fading. You can easily make shade by applying a thin layer of film to keep the UV light from entering the room. Also, you should avoid putting hot pots and pans directly onto wooden furniture. Again, pads to prevent heat from damaging your wooden surfaces will be your best friend.
Moreover, you should keep your wooden furniture away from any sources of heat. This includes fireplaces, radiators, ovens, boilers, heating vents, and similar heating objects. Also, if you really want to commit to protecting the longevity of your wooden furniture, pay attention to the temperature. Ideally, you want to keep it at around 70 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. As far as humidity goes, the ideal level is between 50 and 55 percent. This will help you protect wooden furniture from damage. Also, look into residential insurance claims. You never know when having insurance for your precious items will come in handy.
Moisture and Mold
One of the biggest threats to wooden furniture is mold. Namely, high levels of humidity can lead to the swelling of the wood. Along with this comes the growth of mold. If you want to prevent this from happening, firstly pay attention to the humidity. Along with this, you can use waterproof covers to save your wooden furniture from moisture. Also, if you want to be extra safe and sound, look into getting a water damage insurance claim. In this way, your furniture will be secured and you will be stress-free.
Moreover, another way your wooden furniture can get damaged is if a pipe in your home bursts. Luckily, there is affordable burst pipe insurance claim you can file. In this way, you save both your furniture and your entire home from an unfortunate event of a busted pipe.
Water Stains
You’ve probably seen water rings all over wooden furniture in your life. However, you most likely don’t want to see them on your own precious wooden furniture. If this is the case, make sure you always use coasters under cups and glasses. If coasters just aren’t your thing, you can always cover your wooden furniture with simple tablecloths. This will protect wooden furniture from damage pretty well.
However, the ultimate destroyer of wooden furniture is flooding. Therefore, you should make sure you take all the precautionary steps in preventing floods from damaging your furniture. To do this, you first need to know what actually causes floods. Afterward, you can take all the necessary steps to protect your wooden furniture from damage.
Keep it clean
Ultimately, just make sure you keep your wooden furniture clean and cared for. You can easily do this by dusting it frequently, picking the best cleaning products and clean it on a weekly basis.
