How To Clean Wood Furniture

If you thought that your home furniture couldn’t get any more beautiful and attractive, I have some news for you. You can now make it look even better with new wood furniture cleaning tricks. There are many ways to clean your wooden furniture, especially when made of pine, walnut, or oak, so let’s begin cleaning a tabletop from the kitchen or dining room. 

The best way to clean wood furniture is to use a handmade solution of liquid soap and water. You can also use a dishwasher liquid to treat your wooden surfaces. If you need more detailed instructions, then keep reading the article.

Steps To Clean Wood Furniture Easily

Wood furniture, such as cabinets and tables, may need to be cleaned to look its best. There are several ways to clean wood furniture, depending on the type of stain or dirt that needs removing from the item. Below you may find a step-by-step guide about how to clean wood furniture in an easy way.

Step 1: Dust The Furniture

It’s best to use a microfiber cloth to dust furniture, as the particles will cling to the fabric. Place the fabric in your dominant hand and use your other hand – usually your non-dominant one or whichever is less powerful – to wipe upwards from the bottom of furniture towards the top. Start with horizontal surfaces, like cabinets and bookshelves. Then move on to vertical surfaces such as tabletops and shelves. Pay special attention to corners as these tend to collect extra dust.

Step 2: Make Cleaning Solution

Use a mild cleaning solution to clean the wood. Use hot or warm water and mild dish soap. It’s best to use a disinfectant along with the cleaning solution, as it will help kill off harmful bacteria and other microbes. First, scrub the wood thoroughly with a regular scrubbing pad (do not use steel wool or anything abrasive! This can scratch or damage the wood), rinse it off with clean water, and dry it off a dry rag.

Step 3: Wipe Down The Furniture With The Cleaning Solution

Using your wet microfiber cloth, wipe down surfaces such as furniture, tabletops, cabinets, shelves, and walls. Pay special attention to corners as these tend to collect extra dust. You can also lightly spray the surface with the cleaning solution and then wipe it off with your dry microfiber cloth to help disinfect it beforehand.

Step 4: Wipe Down Surfaces With Dry Rag

Using a dry microfiber cloth, wipe down surfaces such as tabletops, cabinets, shelves, and walls. Dry off all surfaces thoroughly using a dry rag. These will be suitable surfaces with which to wipe oil and grease from the furniture.

Step 5: Let The Furniture Air Dry

Let the furniture air dry before moving it around or using it again.

Step 6: Polish The Furniture

If you want to shine it up, go over the furniture with a wax or polish product. This will make it look nice and clean for some time. However, you will need to redo this step in the future.

How To Remove Old Polish

This is a common problem, and luckily there are plenty of methods to remove it. Some of these tips might sound strange, but all are great ways to strip away that old oil finish. So without further ado, let’s dive into how you can remove old polish from the wood furniture!

1. Heat: Heat is usually one of the first techniques people try to loosen up the old polish on wood furniture to get it off their piece or refinish it. The reasoning behind this is that heat loosens up old polish. If you use a hairdryer, be sure to use the heat setting. The more heat, the faster you will see results.
2. Rubbing Alcohol: If you are only going to use alcohol as your cleaning agent for wood furniture, then you should be fine with just using what is called “rubbing alcohol” or even “isopropyl” or “isopropyl alcohol,” depending on what kind of store-bought product you buy. Just make sure to look for 70% alcohol by volume.
3. Bleaches: If the heat doesn’t work, then you can try a little bit of bleach. Just be careful with how much you use! Don’t do it on your furniture. Test small areas first, just in case. In some cases, bleaches can also cause discoloration over time if not used properly.
4. Vinegar: If your old polish isn’t budging, then it might be time to mix something else in with your rubbing alcohol and give it another try. A quick solution that you can use is vinegar. Just be careful to use a non-toxic brand of vinegar like white wine or balsamic vinegar. You can use these types of vinegar to remove old polish because they’re natural ingredients and don’t contain any harsh chemicals or tannins that could harm your wood furniture like some stronger cleaners might.
5. Ammonia: If you are not a fan of using vinegar, you could also try using ammonia-based products. Just be extremely careful with how much detergent you add to your old polish cleaning mixture. The fumes on these products can be strong! I would recommend taking your time with this particular tip for removing old polish from wood furniture.
6. Turpentine: You can also use turpentine or mineral spirits to remove old polish. You can find these products at your local hardware store. I would recommend putting a little bit on a clean rag and then using that to dab at the polish to loosen up the old polish slowly. Be careful with how much you use! It might take a couple of treatments to completely get the polish off, depending on how tough it is.

Remove Water Stains From Wood

Water stains on wood surfaces are an unsightly and pervasive problem. They are often difficult to remove, but some techniques can be used to do so. Many professional furniture restorers have developed their methods for removing water stains. One technique is to apply a mixture of vegetable oil and turpentine with a brush or cloth, then wipe the surface clean with another cloth wetted with distilled water. The process is repeated until the stain is gone.

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