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cleaning wood furniture

12 years ago

Hello,

I am having a really hard time finding something to weekly dust and clean my coffee table, dining room table, and console table. I think all 3 are some kind of painted or stained wood on top and when I just dust with a cloth there is often still marks on them. I have tried Pledge and Murphys Oil spray, and orange cleaner but they leave them so greasy and then when you put vases or dishes down there are circles left behind when you lift them up. The console is pottery barn lina console i don't know if anyone is familiar. i have tried to look up on the web how to clean it but it doesn't really tell you. any suggestions?

Featured Answer

nikruga
Original Author

12 years ago

Thanks everyone. I was so worried to use anything with water because I thought it would ruin the wood.

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Comments (8)

LuAnn_in_PA
12 years ago
I use a bit of lemon oil on a soft cloth.
ncfg
12 years ago
All you should have to use is a damp cloth (just water). Maybe twice a year you should use something with an oil base, just too add moisture back to the wood. If you over do the oils it will leave marks all the time and don't use anything with wax. This is what I have always done and works great and costs a lot less.
13 years in furniture business
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bobismyuncle
12 years ago
First, throw away the Pledge. Silicone oil is like herpes, once you have it, you will never get rid of it.

Regular dusting is best. To remove body oils and foods, as long as the finish is intact and a film forming finish, a cloth dampened with water and a bit of dish detergent, e.g., Dawn will do some cleaning.

I use Guardsman Polish (an emulsion) as a cleaning agent when needed. I've also waxed some furniture. Most people over do the amount and frequency. Less is more for these products. And don't mix them on the same piece, pick one or the other, or neither.

Wood is dead. It does not need to be "fed" or "moisturized." Wood will reach EMC (equilibrium moisture content) based on the ambient temperature and relative humidity, at a rate determined by the moisture-excluding factor of the finish. No finish is 100% moisture excluding.

Here is a link that might be useful: Polishes
avadoone
12 years ago
"Silicone oil is like herpes, once you have it, you will never get rid of it."

I couldn't have said it better!

I use a cloth dampened with a bit of soapy water. This works really well for me. I have bloodhounds and they slobber on everything!
lindac
12 years ago
I like a coat of a good paste wax with carnauba on heavily used pieces....then I just clean with a dry or slightly damp cloth. About once a year....or less...I clean with mineral spirits and re wax. I don't do this all over everything just the tops of heavily used pieces.
Linda C
Michael
12 years ago
I use Guardsman Polish on all our wood furniture and it's looks like new every day.
freethinker99
12 years ago
If you need really deep cleaning with light surface sratches use "0000" steel wool with a lot of lemon oil polishing with the grain(I have used "000" when I couldn't find 4). For everyday polishing the best product that is commonly available is "old english" brand polish.

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