Furniture Care Guide

When I talk with people about furniture repair and restoration, the conversation often turns to furniture care. “What should I clean furniture with?” “What polish should I use?” “I've heard that Pledge is bad for furniture, is that true?”

Dusting & Cleaning Furniture

There's an old saying that you really don't clean your house, you just move the dust around. The best way to remove dust from your furniture is to use a clean soft cloth that is dampened with water (a few squirts from a plant mister is enough) or use a non-silicone aerosol dusting aid such as Endust .

If the surface of your furniture needs to be cleaned because of an accumulation of hand oils, food and drink spills or an accumulation of old furniture polish, use a gentle cleaner such as Murphy's Oil Soap to clean your furniture. While most polishes say that they “clean while they polish”, it's important to start with a clean surface before you polish. If the surface of the furniture is not clean, you are grinding the old dirt into the finish.

Polishing Furniture

Why Polish? Most new or newly refinished furniture does not need to be polished. To keep your furniture looking new, all you need to do is keep the surface clean and dust the piece periodically.

If you want to add more sheen to your furniture and protect the finish from light scratches, use a cream furniture polish such as Guardsman or Oz Cream Polish . You don't have to polish every week, once every other month is fine. If the surface of your furniture gets dull, try cleaning with Murphy's Oil Soap before polishing to remove built up polish and dirt.

Is Pledge Bad for My Furniture? Many furniture stores and furniture restorers advise against using Pledge because Pledge contains silicone oil. While the silicone oil in Pledge provides a deep shine on furniture, it also leaves an “oil slick” on the finish that's very difficult to remove. The silicone oil attracts dirt and, in rare cases, the oil can cause a finish to fail. Furniture treated with Pledge is a refinisher's nightmare because the silicone oil stays in the wood even after chemical stripping and can interfere with adhesion of the new finish.

Furniture Care Summary