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New Furniture Care Tips
To protect your new furniture, we suggest the following:
- Do not place your furniture in direct sunlight and/or a damp area.
- Arrange your furniture so it is not placed in front of or over heating or air conditioning vents.
- Avoid placing furniture directly under windows.
- Be careful not to place plastic materials (place mats, lamp
bases, notebooks, etc.) on your furniture. Certain plastics have
ingredients that may react with and damage the finish.
- Occasionally rotate accessories so they do not remain in the same spot for extended periods.
- Avoid creating marks on your furniture by placing a piece of felt, cloth or leather under accessories.
- Lift objects from the top surface rather than dragging them across the finish when moving them.
- Use a protective pad when using your furniture as a writing surface (especially when using a ballpoint pen).
- Wipe up spills promptly. Water left over a prolonged period of
time will cause white spots in the finish, and alcohol, perfume,
after-shave and medicines can cause severe damage to the finish.
- Dust frequently with a clean, dry, lint-free cloth. To remove
accumulated dust or old furniture wax build-up, use a soft, lint-free
cloth which has been dampened in a solution of mild detergent and warm
water. Dry thoroughly using a clean, lint-free cloth and then apply
furniture polish, wiping it in the direction of the wood grain.
- We recommend that furniture be polished every six months.
Upholstery Care
Your
furniture plays an important part of the look and feel of
your home decor.
Understanding upholstery and how to care for your furniture
is essential.
Before attempting to remove a stain from your
furniture, it is
helpful to know what type of fabric the furniture is covered
with.
Most furniture companies provide standardized cleaning codes
and instructions which list the preferred spot cleaning
method. If these codes aren't available, you should first
contact the service department of the company where you
purchased your furniture to obtain more information prior to
cleaning your upholstery.
We suggest that you first test any cleaning product in an
inconspicuous area.
Upholstery Cleaning Codes -
S: Clean the fabric sparingly with a dry cleaning solvent
that's water free. Test for color fastness, use sparingly.
- W: Clean fabric with a water based solution,
such as mild detergent and water or foam upholstery
cleaner. Avoid over wetting.
- WS: Depending on stain, use a water based
solution, dry-cleaning solvent or upholstery shampoo.
- X: Fabric should be professionally cleaned
only. Vacuum or brush lightly to remove any accumulation
of dust, dirt and debris. Do not use cleaning solvents or
water based products on fabric.
Furniture can be an expensive item, and you can
permanently damage it if you use the wrong cleaning materials. Many
furniture companies also offer warranties for upholstery and will clean your
furniture or upholstery free of charge if it becomes damaged
while under warranty.
If you are not sure about how to clean your furniture, or
the codes are not available, it may be best to call a
professional cleaner. You can also purchase upholstery
protectors to keep your furniture from becoming stained or
dirty. If you buy your furniture brand new, the fabric is
generally pre-treated. However, over time this protection
will wear off, and used furniture will likely not have it.
It is also important to deodorize your upholstery on a
regular basis. Many odors can be tough to remove, and they
make using your furniture an unpleasant experience.
Deodorizers can be purchased which uses enzymes to destroy
odor which is caused by urine or other materials. It does
this by consuming the matter which causes the smell. This
will give your furniture and upholstery a pleasant scent.
Furniture Care Products
There are a variety of products developed
especially for furniture care as well as other
 commercial
products available that afford similar results.
Polishes, waxes, oil treatments, stains and preservatives are
formulated to provide your furniture protection from the elements
and regular use.
Which products are right for your furniture depend on the amount of use as
well as climatic conditions. We've tried a number of products
over the years and have found some to be better than others,
while almost all products provide some level of protection and
care for your furniture.
Furniture Waxes
Furniture waxes afford the longest lasting protection for your
furniture finishes and are available as a paste or liquid. Some
furniture paste waxes are colored to help disguise minor nicks,
scratches and other surface blemishes.
Oils
Lemon oil and other pure oil
polishes can leave behind an oily film that actually attracts dust
and moisture to your furniture surface. It's a common myth that you
need to fed the wood.
Furniture Cleaners
Furniture cleaners and dusting aids help to protect the furniture
finish and are recommended for regular use. The use of these
products helps to avoid scratching the surface when dusting furniture with
a dry rag.
Furniture Polishes
Most furniture polishes are emulsion base and can be used
regularly on most furniture surfaces. It's a good idea to clean and
remove any wax from the surface prior to using a furniture polish
to avoid a cloudy appearance.
Leather Furniture
 Leather
furniture is one of the most elegant types of furniture that
you can own. Leather is pleasant to have in any
style of home, and will bring a new light to any room it is
placed in.
Leather is also a type of material that is easily maintained. Caring for your furniture is
easily overlooked, but in order to hold the value of
your leather, you should follow a few simple tasks in order to
keep your leather looking, feeling, and even smelling new.
You should also know of the different styles of leather
finishes
before you purchase your leather furniture.
Aniline Leather
Aniline leather is natural looking and will feature more
noticeable marks, barbed wire scars, scratches, brands and
wrinkles. The uniqueness of this leather will work for you
if you are looking for a piece of furniture that is
distinctive when looking at other furniture. Aniline
leather should be cleaned with a soft cloth and vacuumed with a soft brush extension. You
should also rub the leather down with a cleaning solution to preserve
the quality of the leather.
Aniline Plus Leather
Pigmented or aniline-plus leather is another form of leather
that is treated to ensure that there will be a smoother
color and fewer scratches, marks and branding. This leather
has also been treated to help the resistance of stains.
Unlike Aniline leather, this is the most common form of
leather you will find in department stores and furniture
stores. You can also clean this form of leather in the same
manner you would the Aniline leather; simply dust with a
soft cloth and vacuum with a soft brush extension.
Nubuck Leather
Nubuck leather has been buffed to feel like velvet or suede.
This is a form of leather that will have more noticeable
range marks, and is more likely to stain and fade than the
two other forms of leather. Using a product such as
Leather Master Nubuck cleaner and protection which will help
the leather resist natural body oils, liquid spills,
perspiration and maintain the velvet/suede texture. This form of leather is harder to keep
clean than the other two forms of leather due to the texture
not being smooth like Pigmented and Aniline leather.
No cleaning will remove every stain, fading or wear. However,
you will be able to maintain your leather furniture longer
by removing spills immediately, dusting regularly and using
care and cleaning products designed for leather furniture.
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