Month: January 2018

Furniture and flooring made of reclaimed wood give unique character and charm to our homes. No wonder that recycled timber is getting more and more popular. However, to keep them in good condition, we need to clean them properly.
Bringing history to our homes, this is what old furniture is about. Beautiful cupboards, beds and other pieces can emphasize the special character of our interiors` design or help us to uncover the narration about our family`s past. That is why, keeping them in good condition is a duty we simply cannot neglect. Old timber without cleaning looks terrible so let`s not allow for that!

Cleaning old wood

In order to answer the question on how clean reclaimed wood, we have to divide this article into two sections: one of them will be devoted to the timber exposed weather conditions, like the one coming from fence or wooden cabins. The second one will characterize the sanitizing process of recycled wood furniture.
To start with the cleaning of old furniture that used to be exposed to sun and rain, you would need to have some free space and materials. The planks have to be carefully checked for some nails or any other obstacles that could damage your tools. If there are lots of tacks, you may consider to remove them: by hand or with the use of a tack puller. It is also good to sand the planks smooth – it will prevent you from getting slivers and help to dust them down.
To get prepared for the cleaning of your wood, you will need to have: a bucket, a tooth brush or a grout brush, and a dishwashing detergent. Probably some space and aids to fit your planks will be necessary too.
The cleaning will be processed faster on a sunny day – the wood will dry quicker and there is no risk of molds` appearance. So, now you just need to remove all the dirt from the planks with the use of your cleaning solution. If it is necessary, scrub it top to bottom and sideways. Finally, rinse the boards thoroughly a couple of times to make sure that all the cleaning solution has been removed.

How to sanitize your furniture at home?

In order to keep your recycled wood furniture clean, we need to make sure that their surfaces have been covered with some varnish. This layer should protect them from all the possible spills and stains. It is also helpful to remove all the stains immediately after the appear on the surface of the wood.
A number of specialist recommend natural timber cleansers. One of the most effective ones is a solution combining olive oil and a bit of vinegar with water, however, this mixture works the best on surfaces that are not treated. For those ones which have been covered with a layer of varnish, it is better to use some gentle soap with water.

Nice and comfortable furniture is the dream of every interior design fan. For some reason, they tend to overestimate the pieces made of new wood. In this article, we are going to introduce a bunch of arguments to support to make use of reclaimed wood.

While the preparation for writing this piece, we came across several opinions for using reclaimed wood furniture. Interestingly, they are not only about environmental issues, but include such matters as: strength, durability and interesting design of such pieces of furniture. So, why use reclaimed wood?

Environmental issues

Every year we are informed about more and more natural disasters caused by deforestation. Unfortunately, the amount of trees in forests is getting lowered not only by lumberjacks and their activities, but also by hurricanes, tornadoes and other catastrophes tackling woods, forests and jungles. That is why, we, as consumers of such goods, need to be aware of the fact that the trees that are left should be appropriately protected and preserved. For this reason, the choice of furniture made of reclaimed wood seems to be obvious: the pieces are eco-friendly as they have been made of recycled wood only. That means that no new trees have been cut to produce your new cupboard or furniture wall. And, of course, we have to mention animals that benefit from leaving trees in the forests – many of them feed or live on them.

What is more, recycled furniture seem to be a good choice for zero waste philosophy followers. They believe in the 5R rule, including such activities as: recycling and reprocessing of the resources they already have. And reclaimed furniture is made of reprocessed wood. Far fewer materials being sent to landfill during the production and less plastic in the environment mean less pollution in the air and waters.

More strength and durability

This is an undeniable fact: the older the wood is, the stronger and more durable it becomes. It means that the flooring or pieces of furniture made of recycled materials are simply stronger and will last longer as such timber is less likely to split. Why? The answer is simple: the wood has been already exposed to hot and cold atmosphere for a longer period of time and for this reason, it has done all the contracting and expanding. It has also dried out. Such timber is said to be much denser and will not warp in the future that much.

Better looks

A careful observer can notice that the planks made of reclaimed wood are wider than the one of newer trees. The reason for that is that the trees for newer flooring or pieces of furniture were not allowed to grow to their full size. It is especially important for designers and eco lifestyle followers. Moreover, older planks have more knots and other very interesting marks that give the old wood this special character – there is always a narrative behind a piece of furniture or flooring planks.