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7 Tips to Care for Your Antique Furniture
During your spring cleaning, don't forget to think about yourantiques. In this month's column, we'll give you seven tips to helpyou care for your antique furniture. 1. Use paste wax Every couple of months, wax with a good qualitypaste wax that can be found in any hardwarestore. If you wax too much, it can dull the finishand attract dust. To remove a waxy build up,apply varesol with a clean cotton cloth. Properwaxing will bring up the color and grain of thewood and protect it. Rub a small amount on asoft cloth and apply it in circular motions. Let itdry then buff with a clean cloth. 2. Don't use aerosol sprays Avoid aerosol spray polishes because they cancontain silicone oil and other agents that can beharmful to your furniture. For daily cleaning, use aclean cloth or a clean duster. For those who liketo use something more, I recommend Orange Oilbecause it works well to clean and polish woodfinishes. I like it because it doesn't leave a waxbuild up and doesn't contain linseed or silicone oil. 3. Use coasters A great deal of surface damage can be preventedif you always remember to use coasters, mats andtrivets and avoid placing hot and/or wet itemsdirectly on furniture. 4. Avoid scratching furniture Never slide anything (vase, plate, serving dish etc)across a surface because it will scratch. A verylight scratch can be treated with Restore-AFinish,a great multi-purpose product. Deepscratches require the skill of professional restorers. 5. Clean liquid spills Spilled water should be thoroughly wiped upimmediately. Alcohol and solvents (nail polish, nailpolish remover, perfumes) should be dabbed, notwiped because they can act like a furniture stripperand damage the finish. White rings left fromeither a hot drink or a wet glass should beattended to right away. A little Brasso appliedwith a clean cloth may do the trick. Or, I havefound that Restor-A-Finish works well to removewhite rings. Always test on a small area first.Remove candle wax - Wait for the wax to coolthen gently loosen using a fingernail to remove. 6. Draw the drapes Just as sun damage to the skin is cumulative andpermanent, its effects on wood are just asdestructive. Diffused sunlight over a long periodof time can be as detrimental as direct sunlightover a short period of time. Sunlight can turn aclear finish yellow.The only good news about sun damage is thatit's easy to avoid. Draw the drapes, pull theblinds or have an UV-filtering film applied toyour windows. 7. Don't ignore relative humidity Central heating is the worst thing to happen toantiques. A warm inside and cold outside makeslife comfortable while wreaking havoc onantiques. It's the fluctuations in relative humiditythat central heating creates which cause theproblem. Wood responds to relative humidity byexpanding and contracting as it tries to maintaina balance with its environment. It's not the rapidchanges during the course of a day that causethe most damage. It's the long-term seasonalfluctuations, which cause the serious damage. During the dry winter months when it is coldoutside and warm inside, wood tends to shrink.During hot damp summers when it is warm outsideand cooler inside, wood tends to expand.Long-term exposure to these conditions leads tocracking, warping and splitting. To guard against the fluctuations in relativehumidity in your home, use a humidifier duringthe cold winter and a dehumidifier in the dampsummer. Think twice before putting a good pieceof furniture in a basement, attic, near heatingvents or near fireplaces. Keep fresh air circulating.Maintain a constant room temperature and turnit low at night. Martin Swinton owns Take-A-Boo Emporium located in Toronto, Canada. He does furniture restoration; caning and rushing repairs; appraisals and has teachescourses on antiques. Martin can be reached at http://www.takeaboo.com
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news Guests on Sunday TV news shows (AP via Yahoo! News) Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows: Report: News not good for White Sox' Quentin (Sports Illustrated) NEW YORK (SI.com) -- White Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin received some bad news from an MRI on his right forearm and wrist, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The injuries have kept Quentin, one of the AL's leading MVP candidates, out of the lineup since Monday. Green news harvest: stolen solar panels, love for small wind (CNET via Yahoo! News) A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary. In TV news matchup, cable wins convention coverage (Los Angeles Times) Cable news networks logged record viewership during the two weeks of back-to-back convention coverage NFPs Fail to Cool Dollar Rally, Looks to Next Friday's US Retail Sales, Fannie/Freddie News (Forex Video) (Daily FX via Yahoo! Finance) US dollar holds strong despite disappointing NFPs, jump in unemployment rate to 6.1%. Forex traders look ahead to RBNZ rate decision, US retail sales, and news this weekend from the Treasury regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. News vet: Coverage ob-scene (Boston Herald) WBZ-TV is reeling from massive cuts and was the only Boston station that didn't send a reporter to the political conventions, but it has devoted over-the-top news coverage... Good News Club for children (North Lake Tahoe Bonanza) The non-denominational Bible Club ?Good News Club? for children from kindergarten through fifth grade meets every Friday for Bible stories, games, songs, snacks,and prizes! Sunday news shows (The Monterey County Herald) Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows: 6 a.m.: NBC's "Meet the Press" ? Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden. 7 a.m.: "Fox News Sunday" ? Obama chief strategist David Axelrod and McCain campaign manager Rick Davis. 8 a.m. Guests on Sunday TV news shows (Boston Globe) Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows: ABC's "This Week" -- Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram enter joint distribution deal (Dallas Morning News) The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram have reached a joint distribution agreement in an effort to reduce costs, the two newspapers said Friday. Site: news - Google News News Analysis A Difficult Road Awaits Panetta at the CIA - New York Times
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for interior decorating Interior Decorators Challenge State Law On Job Title (Hartford Courant) Lynne Herrmann will help you pick a color for your living room walls, choose upholstery or recommend fabric for your draperies. You can find her in the phone book listed as an "interior decorator" or "designer of interiors" ? but never under the label "interior designer." Warm Weather Decorating in Cool Hues (Carteret County News-Times) (ARA) - When the weather turns warm, we open our windows to let in the light and fresh air. But there are other ways to update living spaces to reflect the best of the summer season. How to Integrate Personal Style into Your Kitchen and Bath (Carteret County News-Times) (ARA) - Most of us have developed a unique personal style and we know what fashions work for us. But when it comes to decorating or remodeling our homes, particularly our kitchens and bathrooms, style preferences can be harder to pin down. A student's dedication to interior design (University of Connecticut Daily Campus) Studying abroad is an excellent opportunity to soak in the nuances and differences of other cultures - their food, their style, their arts and their way of life. And one of the frequently-unmentioned benefits of studying abroad is the opportunity to experience the fact that outside of the United States, the residential college system is fairly uncommon, or at least of a far smaller scale. Interior Decorating Seals the Deal (New York Times) Just finding the perfect new home may no longer be enough; some buyers seem to want the house predecorated in the bargain. This odd house (Sewickley Herald) Interior designer Tom Weigel mixes imagination and personal style to create one-of-a-kind rooms. read more » Restoration after flooding (The Springfield News-Leader) Interior decorator Debra Moore spent two months preparing for her dream life. The Interactive New Site for the Budding Laurence Llewellyn-Bowens out There (PRWeb) Need inspiration for your next decorating or home improvement project? Then totallyhome.co.uk is a new website well worth looking at. (PRWeb Sep 10, 2008) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/totallyhome/080908/prweb1302084.htm The Interactive New Site for the Budding Laurence Llewellyn-Bowens out There (PRWeb via Yahoo! News) Need inspiration for your next decorating or home improvement project? Then totallyhome.co.uk is a new website well worth looking at. Browse News & Feature Stories (Metro Times Detroit) 134 stories found. Showing page 1 of 5. Site: interior decorating - Google News Interior decorator pursues her true passion - Telegraph-Journal
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