Home Decoration

Cleaning Antique Furniture

Antique furniture totes up the grace of home décor and imparts a modish touch to any house. Today, antique items not only hold the interest of the true art aficionados, but are also a rave among many urban homemakers, mainly due to the easy availability of various antique replicas and reproductions in the market. But, these facsimiles can never surpass the true charm of an authentic antique item. If you are someone who can really boast of possessing an antique piece of furniture in your living room, you know where you stand.  Apart from showcasing your distinctive style, these antique pieces also call for proper care and attention. So go through this article and learn how to clean and preserve your prized possessions by following these simple tips of cleaning antique furniture.

Cleaning Antique Furniture

·        Make sure that you vacuum and dust your antique furniture with a very soft cloth.  Never use coarse materials to wipe their surface.

·        Always clean rough and uneven surfaces with a brush or a vacuum nozzle, attached with a brush. Avoid using wet clothes to clean jagged surfaces.

·        Wet cleaning should be done with a mild detergent and followed by a rinse with a damp cloth. Always blot excess water with an absorbent sponge.

·        Dab some solvent-based cleaning wax in a cloth and clean your antique products with it. Ensure that you wipe away with a dry cloth later.

·        A common myth is that lemon oil helps to preserve antique pieces. Never use it to clean your furniture, as it will dry and darken the wood.

·        Avoid using spray waxes to clean antique furniture. They sometimes leave silicone on the surface that makes further refinishing difficult.

·        Take some carnauba wax inside folded cheesecloth and wipe the furniture with it. Buff with a dry cloth. See that the there are no smears left.

·        Take some beeswax in a soft and clean cloth to clean your furniture once a year. You can also try a good commercial polish that contains beeswax.

·        Try using a handy electric polisher or buffer for cleaning smooth surfaces, if you want to avoid the tedious process of hand polishing.

A Few Things to Consider

• Avoid direct lighting near antique furniture, as exposure to bright light makes it susceptible to darkening and fading. Store it in a dimly lit area to prevent degradation of finishes and to prolong its life.
• Extreme temperature and humidity should always be avoided while selecting the sites of display of your antique furniture. Insure that you keep it away from fireplaces, heaters, ovens and sunlight.

Elegant and royal though most hardwood floors in homes, offices and hotels look, they also require the maximum attention and care for its proper maintenance. Below, therefore, are some useful tips on how to clean hardwood floors that will help them retain that original look and luster.

Degree of Difficulty - Easy

Time Needed - Varies

Cleaning Tips for Maintenance of Hardwood Floors

• Always use a soft, fine bristled broom whenever you are sweeping hardwood floors.
• Hardwood floors need to be vacuumed once or maybe twice a week in order to remove dirt and dust. A soft brush attachment can be used to lessen the possibility of scratching.
• Do not ever use water to clean hardwood floors as it will wear down the polish.  Incase someone spill water or any other liquid accidentally, use soft towel or wet / dry vacuum to instantly to wipe away the spill. Dry completely.
• When wiping polyurethaned hardwood floors, use only very dry damp cloth for the purpose as extra water can seep into seams and ruin the look of the entire wood floor.
• You also have the option of using carpet runners (with non-skid pads) atop wood floors that is being constantly used (i.e. walked upon).
  Remember to vacuum-clean the entire wooden floor area under rugs and a runner because with time the dirt filters down through the weave and scratches the wood below.
• If it’s feasible, then avoid wearing heavy shoes or very high heels on hardwood floors because some heels can cause indentations.
• Do not ever drag any furniture or any other objects across wooden flooring. Either keep small furniture like tables, chairs, etc. that have wheels at the base or use gliding furniture pads underneath the piece that will assist in its sliding across the floor
• Place floor mats at every entrance to the wooden floor so that a person does not bring in dirt from the bottoms of his / her footwear.
• Always strictly adhere to the manufacturer’s suggestions on how to treat wooden flooring scratches and dents.
• Place furniture pads under tables and chair legs to avoid scratch marks on the floor. You can purchase them at any local hardware store or home center.
• Certain hardwood floors may require timely / periodic waxing and buffing. Get suggestions from the manufacturer for the specific procedures for your floor.

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Here are some wonderful home cleaning tips and solutions from grandma’s times when all these cleaning products were not so readily available. They are inexpensive, easy to prepare and more environment-friendly than many of the products in the superstores. Exercise a little caution while using them.

• Clean the stubborn stains in your bathtub by applying a paste of hydrogen peroxide and cream of tartar on them using a toothbrush and then rinse them thoroughly.
• Club soda is known for removing spots and stains instantly. Pour little of it on the spot and after one or two seconds blot the area with a damp sponge.
• Mix one tablespoon of household bleach in a spray bottle full of water and use it as a spray disinfectant in the kitchen, around the sink and counters, especially after you have cooked meat.
• Mix together 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 4 tablespoons of white vinegar and 1 quart of warm water and apply it on all kinds of woodwork to clean them and make them shine using a soft cloth. Dry the item with a separate and clean cloth.
• Pencil eraser is great to clean black scuffmarks on the floors made by heels of the shoes.
• To remove stains from carpets, try a mixture of ½ cup of mild dishwashing liquid and 2 cups of boiling water. Use a damp sponge to apply the mixture to the carpet and clean it.
• To unclog a drainpipe, pour a cup of salt and a cup of baking soda down it and then pour lots of boiling water down it to dissolve the grease and clear it.
• Use a clean rag moistened with club soda or white vinegar to bring the shine back to stainless steel.
• Water can leave spots and rings on wooden furniture that can be cleaned using a damp cloth and a mixture of toothpaste and baking soda.

Thorough cleaning of home can be quite a daunting and tiring task and it is always best to have a rough plan in mind, if your don’t want to waste any efforts and time in the process or miss ‘the’ spot while doing all the hard work on your own. Here are some practical suggestions from us that you will find useful:

• An appropriate cleaner for the job is a great help while cleaning. Try to use the least abrasive ones at first as abrasive ones may damage porcelain toilet bowls and scrubbing too hard may cause grooves that become difficult to clean later. Make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions while using abrasive cleaners for your safety.
• Before trying to get into corners and worry about details, it is best to start with what you can see at first.
• Clean from top to bottom, so that when you dust the edge of the ceilings and bookcases and it settles on the floor, you do not have to clean it again. Floor should be swept last.
• Follow a system of cleaning left to right or vice-versa so you can be sure that you don’t miss anything.
• Keep a big box and a trash bag close at hand. All the small items that you may find while cleaning and would like to keep can be kept in the box while all things that are now useless to you can be dumped into the trash bag.
• Make sure that you keep your cleaning supplies in the cabinets that get locked automatically and out of reach of your children and pets, as it can be injurious to their health, if ingested.
• While rags are most common choice for dusting, vacuum cleaners today come with appendages that can reach into the tightest corners, ceiling edges, fans and window sills and suck all the dust in.