8 Furniture Tips Other Cleaning Services Don’t Know

Sometimes we have a piece of furniture that we’ll never part with no matter how bad it looks. It may be an old piece or perhaps not quite so old, but there’s just something magical about it because deep down inside we know we’re going to keep it, even if we have to find an excuse and explain to the rest of the family why it must stay.  Ever happened to you?

If that’s the case in your home, we’re going to share a few tips to help restore your treasure to its former glory and without having to call in some restoration expert and without breaking the piggy bank.

Cure For Candle Wax Spills

When house cleaning Pittsburgh and surrounding area homes, we are usually asked to clean the living room and when entering the room are surprised by what we see.  I remember one home that I went into that had candles all over the living room and the dripping wax from those candles was all over the room including on the tables where the various candles sat as well as on the dark blue carpet.  We were asked to clean up the wax as best as we could and we did, but still not to my satisfaction.

Now I love candles as much as the next person, but I distinctly remember

one winter night several years ago when I was moving a burning candle from our television stand to our mahogany table.  As luck would have it, or my own carelessness, I managed to spill more than a few drops of hot wax on the table.  Panic set in rather quickly as my heart began to pound and my palms started to drip with a nervous sweat.

The solution for this problem without scratching the mahogany finish is so elegant and practical.

• Drop a few ice cubes into a small zip lock back and zip it up.
• Place the bag of ice on the wax and let the cubes chill the wax until it becomes brittle to the touch.
• Then gently use a plastic scraper, a plastic credit card, or a plastic spatula to scrape the mess right off your mahogany table top.
• Any left-over residue can easily be removed with a solution of one part apple cider vinegar to ten parts warm water and a soft cloth moistened with this mixture. Just remember to run lightly.

How’s that for an easy and painless way to get the wax off?

Chase Away Water Rings And Spots

You’ve put coasters out for your party guests, but somehow the coasters must be invisible to the naked eye because after all the guests are gone home you notice a white water mark and a few water spots on your beautiful wooden end table.  Not to worry, you can save your friends and the restore your end table to its former beauty in a few short minutes.

Make the watermark and the spots disappear like magic by slightly dampening a soft cloth with clean water.  Then squeeze a dab of toothpaste near the water ring and rub it gently in a circular motion with your damp cloth until the mark disappears. Wipe the area dry before applying a coat of your favorite furniture polish (I like Milsak.)

For tougher stains try adding a pinch of baking soda to the mix and watch those watermarks disappear like a rabbit placed in a hat. And who said magic is fake?

3 Problems For Wooden Furniture And Fixes For Them

Have you ever laid a piece of paper for a long time on a wooden table top and discovered it was stuck to the wood?  Not to despair this is an easy problem to remedy.

Just dribble a few drops of olive oil, which is my favorite to cooking oil, over the paper and wait for 20 minutes or so. Rub the spot clean with a clean but dry cloth and the paper will easily come right off!

My children when they were in their early years, bless their hearts, loved to stick adhesive tape on our wooden dining room table which can be a real pain to remove unless you know this next trick.

Simply mix a solution of one teaspoon of Dawn dish soap and two cups of warm water.  Then dribble a bit of rubbing alcohol onto the tape.  The alcohol, the dish soap, and the warm water will converge on the adhesive tape to soften it.  The mess can quickly be removed by rubbing the area with a clean dry cloth.

My dear dad smoked in his younger years and at times would drive my mom up the proverbial wall as they say.  The reason was because he would carelessly set his cigarette on the edge of an ashtray and not notice when it rolled off the tray and onto her wooden coffee table causing a slightly burnt mark on the wood.  Back then, dear mom didn’t know this next tip that we’ll share with you.

The solution for mom was for her and is for us today, no further than a trip to the refrigerator and the jar of mayonnaise sitting on a shelf.  Just rub a bit of mayo on the burnt mark and let it dwell for a few minutes before using a clean but slightly damp cloth to wipe off the mayo and the mark both at the same time.  Now I’m not sure if I want mayonnaise in my stomach knowing what it can do to a burnt mark on the wood.

Loving Leather Touch Ups

We have a leather couch which is fairly hard to stain as long as we blot up the spill quickly.  Even so, leather does stain if the spill is left on the leather for some time. The next cleaning tip is one that works quite well for water stains, but you’ll need to test it out on an inconspicuous area just to be safe that your leather won’t be damaged from the treatment.

Simply wipe the watermark away with a bit of white vinegar and a soft cleaning cloth.  How easy is that?  Please remember to test the vinegar cleaning tip in an out of the way place, to be certain it won’t cause more damage to your leather.

While we’re on the subject of leather stains, leather scuff marks can usually be rubbed away with an ordinary pencil eraser!  Just rub lightly to prevent any damage.

We’re going to stop for now but do hope that you can use one or more of the tips to restore a piece of prized furniture gracing your home.  If you have a tip or two you’d like to share feel free to write your comments below.

Thank you for reading and see you next time.

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