How to Care for your Hardwood Furniture

One of the great things about hardwood furniture is that it is an excellent quality wood that if looked after and maintained correctly, it will last for many years to come.

How to maintain the Appearance of Hardwood
Firstly, we suggest a few weeks after receiving of your furniture, you re-oil it. After this it should be done on a regular basis; every 2 months if it is left uncovered. Oiling your furniture will help to maintain and preserve the original colour and will make it more resistant to weathering. Oiling your furniture will also help to minimise surface cracks.

You do not need to treat your furniture this often but doing so will help keep the furniture as good as new!

If left untreated, the timber will change to a dull grey colour.

We do recommend a furniture cover to help protect it and preserve its colour, particularly throughout the winter months. If you use a cover, it will only need oiling every so often as it will not exposed to the weather from day to day. We offer a range of waterproof furniture covers on our website.

How to Oil your furniture
Prior to oiling, the product must the cleaned and dried thoroughly. You can do this by using a stiff brush to scrub the surface with warm soapy water. Once dry, any rough areas can be lightly sanded using fine sand paper. If dirt is not removed before treating the wood, it could cause black marks to appear on the surface where the dirt and oil have mixed.

Once the bench as been prepared, you can apply the oil paying particular attention to the grain, hidden surface areas and any joints.  You will then need to wipe off any excess oil using a clean cloth, then wait for the oil to fully dry before using the furniture.

What Happens if Cracks Appear?
Cracks will mainly appear during long dry spells of weather and mostly if the wood has been untreated. These cracks are perfectly normal and are expected to occur, but will not affect the strength and durability of your furniture. These same cracks should disappear once the weather returns to normal.

What to do about Sap Resin
It is usual for small amounts of sap resin to appear on the surface of wood in certain climatic conditions.

If the resin has crystallised, it can be removed using a stiff brush.

If it is sticky to touch, use an appropriate tool to remove the resin pools and use white spirit to wipe clean the area.

Once treated sit back and relax on your well oiled hardwood garden furniture!