How much do you know about cleaning, polishing and maintaining the wood finishes around your home? This article from Networx offers seven handy tips to help you care for natural woodwork.
The perfect decorating touch, natural wood accents are very much in style. Kitchen or bathroom cabinetry, wainscoting, chair rails, beadboard paneling, crown molding, and built-in shelving, add character and interest to your home. However, cabinets and trim crafted out of natural wood does require a certain amount of TLC to keep them at their lustrous best.
Is water is the natural enemy of wood finishes? The answer to this is mixed, actually – while large quantities of water are indeed anathema to wood surfaces, a lightly moistened cloth is the tool of choice when you need to remove stubborn dirt and sticky spills. Just be sure to follow up by drying promptly.
Dust is also surprisingly problematic. Regularly get rid of airborne dust that lands on your woodwork using a soft, non-lint-shedding cloth such as an old undershirt, feather duster, or best, of all, a lamb’s wool duster. Otherwise, dust particles may scratch the finish.
Using stains and dyes will not cover up the natural wood grain. Stains are used to deepen the color of woodwork while showing off its lovely grain. Dyes add color and an appearance of depth without affecting the grain; they may also be used to disguise scratches in the wood. Sometimes dyes and stains are used in combination to create an attractive hue and accentuate the grain as well.
