Cass Bower
So the holiday season has officially come and gone, and you were lucky and ended up with the best gift of all, a favorite family heirloom. Maybe it was an old antique buffet that held all the family dishes when you had Sunday pot lucks. The one that held a secret candy stash that only you and your favorite Aunt knew about. Or maybe grandpa gifted you his favorite silver coffee pot. The one he bought for grandma way back when and they ended up collecting a whole set around it over the years.
These aren’t things you can just go to a store and pick up, these aren’t things at all, really. They are memories, they are treasured little moments in time and have remained in your family for years.
Taking Care of your FAvorite Wood Pieces
Well, now what? How do you care for them? How should you keep them safe and sound for future generations? Believe it or not, it’s not too hard. Take your favorite Aunt’s buffet; it’s dark, has some knicks from being used almost daily for years on end, but overall it’s not in bad shape.
The first thing you can do is clean it up with a little lemon oil. If you’re unsure of the finish it has on it, you can always spot test an area and see if the lemon oil causes any reaction like cracking, grazing, or discoloration.
The lemon oil can break down other furniture polishes and waxes and over time you may end up removing the finish and not even realizing it, so a spot test truly is a must. If you notice any kind of reaction you may want to skip right to restoration. Sometimes it can be best to remove the finish that’s there and start fresh. It will give the piece a fresh look but not look too new. This way you can preserve the history of the piece, and help it to last years into the future.
So the spot test resulted in no crazy reactions, or you have a newly restored piece that needs care, the best thing is lemon oil!
It’s easy to get (at many grocery stores or hardware stores), doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, and is easy to apply. It’s best to use a low pile rag, like a 100% cotton t-shirt rag. They work great for absorption and won’t be too abrasive on the surface. Then you just wipe the piece down once or twice a year.
It cleans the piece and it also helps to moisturize the wood. And using lemon oil over other spray polishes works great because it doesn't sit on the piece, it absorbs into the wood. Other spray polishes can be silicone based and they just build up over time and that doesn’t help the wood. With time and changing temperatures the wood will expand and contract but that build up of polish doesn’t allow the wood to move and breathe so it cracks and just causes more problems. Eventually that polish will need to be removed and a fresh finish added.
The pieces we work on usually leave our shop with some sort of lacquer on them for protection, and lemon oil works just fine on it. It removes dirt and keeps it nice and clean.
Click here to learn more about getting your treasured wood pieces restored!
To Polish or LAcquer, that is the question!
But what about grandpa’s prized silver coffee pot? For metal pieces the question is often, “should I continue to polish this piece or have it lacquered?” If you want to continue to use the piece then it’s best to continue to polish it. Restoration can help with pitting in the plating, but polishing is really the only way to go if you want to use it. But maybe you want to put the coffee pot in a nice china cabinet and display it, in that case you can certainly lacquer it. The biggest factor is use. If it’s not going to be used, and you won’t be eating or drinking from it, lacquer would be the way to go. You could get upwards of 20 years of no tarnish or polishing with lacquer. But if you plan on serving coffee each week and using the heirloom, then polishing is your best bet.
Click here to read more about getting your silver pieces restored!
No matter what type of piece you have, there are some things to keep in mind when storing your favorite pieces. One of the biggest is the sun. UV light can be harmful to wood, fading it and causing it to dry out, chip, or crack. It can even affect the life of the lacquer on any piece. It’s best to add some sort of UV protection to any window near your heirlooms, or keep them in an area without direct sunlight. There are a number of various window films you can purchase to help with UV protection, you just need to find the best for your home and space.
Another really huge tip is to not place plants on these pieces. Even in a planter with a water tray, the additional moisture can still be an issue for the piece they are sitting on. So many pieces get water damage from overfilled plants, the water just seeps into the wood and causes discoloration, splitting of the wood, and all kinds of damage to the finish. Once this kind of damage is done a lot of times the only answer is restoration. The finish will need to be taken off and the wood replaced or sanded down to remove the affected area, it’s a large task for what can be such a small damaged area. It’s best just to keep all those beautiful plants far, far away from your treasured heirlooms
Third thing to think about, vents and fireplaces. We live in a wonderful state, but we all know North Carolina is famous for needing heat in the morning and AC in the afternoon and this vast temperature difference can really wreak havoc on your pieces. Wood pieces; especially, will naturally expand and contract over time but a blast of cold air or heat from the fireplace can cause that to happen too much, or too quickly and that will end up damaging not only the finish but the wood underneath. It can also age the lacquer on your metal pieces faster than it would naturally. The best thing is to keep those pieces away from extreme temperature areas so the wood and finish can “breathe” and the lacquer on your metal pieces stay in good shape for as long as they can.
Almost all damage can be fixed!
So you’ve added some UV protection to your windows close to your buffet, you don’t have any plants setting on it, you’ve moved both that and your coffee pot away from any vents and fireplaces, you’re safe right? Well, one last thing to consider, the family pet! One of the biggest reasons people bring in their items to us is their pets, or more precisely that adorable little pooch that just loves to chew on anything he can get his teeth on! Well we don’t have any tips or tricks to stop him from turning your chair leg into a teething ring, we can tell you, you are not alone. Also, chew damage can definitely be fixed. It will take some work but we can most definitely help. The biggest advice we can offer is to wait until your puppy has outgrown the chew stage and then have the piece restored. We certainly wouldn’t want to bring back your fully restored piece only to have more chew damage a few months later.
If you're wondering whether or not it's time to restore, check out our,
"10 Questions That Can Help Anyone Determine When To Restore."
Above all else, your favorite piece can be restored. Almost all damage can be fixed, especially when we’re talking about pieces that evoke such great memories. Just remember to keep those favorite pieces away from direct sunlight and temperature extremes, keep your plants close to the window and not on any heirlooms, chew damage can be repaired, and that lemon oil is your friend! And if something happens along the way, well then you have some great friends at Mumford Restoration that can help out!