The best way to polish wood: After a few years, you may have to polish the wood of furniture or floors again. The shine of wood is lost over time due to dirt and wear, and therefore it is advisable to polish it.
Little Tips Before Starting To Polish Wood
But before you start, you have to know what type of wood you have in front of you. The surface of waxed wood can appear slightly sticky. Therefore, it makes sense to clean the surface before you start polishing the wood.
Furniture wax is getting recommended here. Oiled wood should also be getting cleaned of dirt and dust before polishing.
Afterward, you can use oil (teak oil) to refine the wood fibers.
Pieces of furniture getting varnished have a closed surface due to the varnish. Here you can help with furniture polish.
Let us examine more in-depth below how to polish wood the best way!
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Best way to polish wood
Rustic wooden furniture is still trendy, and wood gives the apartment its very own flair. However, solid wood furniture is not as hard-wearing as initially assumed.
Whether the wood is waxed, oiled, or varnished, it sometimes reacts more and sometimes less to water, dust, and external influences.
With the following care tips, wooden furniture will remain beautiful for a long time, and with the right tricks, dents, scratches, or stains can be easily removed.
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1. Which wood can be polished?
Not every wood is the same. Pay attention to the wood type of your furniture before you start cleaning.
Wood Types For Polish:
- You can recognize waxed wood, for example, by the slightly sticky film on the surface. First, clean your waxed wooden furniture dry, and then rub it with furniture wax in the direction of the grain.
- Oiled wood is best getting cleaned with teak oil. Here, too, you should first carry out dry cleaning. Rub the oil also in the direction of the wood fibers evenly.
- Its closed and plastic-like surface can recognize painted wooden furniture. It would help if you treated this with furniture polish.
In principle, there are no restrictions concerning polishing. However, some can get worked better than others.
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Woods suitable for polishing:
- Walnut
- Yew
- Mahogany
- Birch
- Douglas fir
- Cherry Tree
- Maple
- Ash
- Peartree
- Alder
Among the types of wood that are less easy to polish are spruce, fir, pine, and larch.
If your project does not involve the maintenance of existing furniture, it is best to choose a wood that is easy to polish.
Mahogany and cherry wood have a gleaming surface. If you want to embellish existing wood, polishing is possible on lacquered and waxed surfaces.
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2. Remove dusting wood off before polish
Use a specific feather duster or cloth for dusting – but keep your fingers away from potent cleaning agents.
For regular cleaning of wooden furniture, dusting is usually sufficient, and this is best getting done with a dry cloth or feather duster. Please do not use a microfibre cloth – it can leave tiny scratches on the wood.
Despite all this, the surface can lose its color and shine after a specific time. Therefore, the furniture should be carefully wiped with a lint-free and moistened cloth from time to time.
However, this is only possible with waxed or oiled wood – otherwise, a damp cloth can quickly leave marks on untreated wood. We should permanently remove the remaining moisture immediately with a dry cloth.
Tip
If the wood is untreated and robust, you can also use a vacuum cleaner: A soft brush attachment makes it easy to remove dust in grooves.
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3. Remove heavy dirt before polish
You can remove heavy soiling with a neutral soap, a sponge, and water. Finally, rub dry the wood.
Don’t use microfibre cloths here either, as their structure can cause scratches on the surface. By the way, you should not use regular soap – soapy water can attack the surface of the wood.
Scrubbing milk is also taboo for cleaning. The tiny particles would scratch the wood’s surface during cleaning and cause more damage than they can repair.
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4. Remove light-colored stains before polish
For example, if you place a hot coffee pot on a waxed or darkly glazed surface, you risk a light stain on the wood. This stain is also usually not so easy to remove.
The simplest solution to the problem is heating. Use a hairdryer. It would help if you held the hairdryer for a few minutes and a short distance from the affected area.
After that, the stain will disappear. It sounds absurd at first, but it works.
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5. Treating wood with furniture polish
Furniture polish is available in different versions, which you can also order conveniently online. Please choose the color of the polish to match the color of the wood.
Polis Color Choosing:
- Before you purchase, make sure that there are no dangerous toxins in the polish – this applies especially to dining tables and children’s room furniture.
- You can polish it after removing coarse dirt and dust from the furniture during dry cleaning.
- Pour the furniture polish liquid onto a dry and soft cloth. Rub the surface with it, but do not apply too much pressure.
- Apply a protective film to the polish, which keeps dirt, water, and dust away.
Tip
We strongly advise against treating the wooden furniture with soap-based products. Scrubbing milk or various spraying agents is the literal death of any wood. The wood dries out much faster, and the shine disappears.
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6. Polishing wood with household products
If you don’t want to get furniture polish from the hardware store, you can also produce a similar substance yourself. However, take caution. For example, you should give varnished natural wood furniture a professional furniture polish.
Homemade Polish Preparation:
- Since woods are generally quite different, it is advisable to try out the following tips on a small test piece. Choose a place on furniture that is not visible, such as the underside of the seat of a wooden chair. Observe the cleaned area for a few days before cleaning the whole piece of furniture in the same way.
- Polishing with high-quality olive oil is an alternative. Use the oil sparingly and rub the wood evenly. Leave everything to soak in for a few hours and remove any residue later with a soft cloth. Also popular are mixtures of oil and lemon juice or vinegar.
- Other household remedies include bamboo oil or linseed oil. You can also try cleaning oak furniture with light, warm beer.
- Under no circumstances should you treat your wooden furniture with detergent, scouring milk, or other soap-based products. Otherwise, the wood will dry out faster and get dull spots.
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Last Updated on 30/03/2022 by Buzz This Viral
