Wooden furniture often play major role in interior’s arrangement. Unfortunately, even those made of best wood may get damaged. It doesn’t mean that we should exchange our furniture for a brand new set.
How to renovate old wooden furniture?
Get to know more about step by step furniture renovation from this article.
Damaged furniture – what to do?
What to do, when our beloved wooden furniture got damaged over years of usage? If there is a strong bond, buying new furniture is not an option. We give you advise on how to renovate old furniture and bring them back to life. In our DIY section, we present a way to renovate old wooden furniture.
Before work collect:
- a sandpaper trowel,
- a scraper,
- a flat brush
- and a soft wiper.
Wood is a noble, yet demanding material. Raw doesn’t resist to humidity, dirt and sunlight. For long lasting, it should be properly maintained and secured. Among wood protectors, major role belongs to varnishes. After years of usage, wooden parts are easy to renovate. The process isn’t too complicated, however, choice of good preparation may appear a tough nut to crack.
How to renovate old wooden furniture: varnishes
Varnishes are used for many wooden products such as floors, furniture, windows as well as wainscot. Varnishes make a tough, armour-like cover, which protects wood.
It is possible to choose if we want our surface glare, opaque or unprotected-like look. Usually it takes two up to three layers of varnish, where the first one is a base varnish, which provides better adhesion to a surface as well as protects wood from changing its taint.
Old wooden furniture renovation: proper oils and waxes
In a wooden furniture renovation process very important is a last step, wood’s finish. Oils and waxes consist of less toxic substances than varnishes, wood stains, repellents and paints. Both waxed and oiled surfaces require regular maintenance. Oils give wood a slight glare and deepen its taint. Oil impregnates wood, but doesn’t make a layer on its surface. It protects wood from water, simultaneously it allows wood to ‘breathe’. Old furniture renovation is really important.
Unfortunately, oils emphasize uneven surfaces. Most of oils do not dye wood, however, it is possible to buy an oil which will brighten or darken it. In contrary, waxes create a thin protection layer, but foremost make wood more resistant to dirt and humidity.
How to renovate old furniture – useful tips
When we apply more layers of varnish than recommended by a manufacturer, we can achieve effect other than expected, e.g. surface which is supposed to be opaque will glare. In case of usage of wood stain you should remember that the more layers, the darker a wooden surface will be.
Before varnishing or impregnating, a wooden surface should be polished and dedusted. Sometimes manufacturers recommend to apply a base preparation before impregnating.