Bring old furniture back to life: the tricks to make it brand new again
Every self-respecting home has a priceless jewel to hide and jealously guard. Whether it's a jewellery item or a necklace, an antique ring or old furniture handed down from family to family, we all have something that is worth so much more as time goes by. Among these priceless objects there are, as we said before, the furniture. Not everyone moves to a new home from scratch, so it is reasonable to think that many of the old family furniture peeks out inside our new homes, a bit to keep the traditions and memory of our grandparents or ours alive. avi, partly because a touch of vintage and antiques at home is just what it takes sometimes.
But the passing of years certainly does not help our old furniture, which is there to make a good impression but which does nothing but collect dust and deteriorate. How then to save and clean these beautiful antiques from scratch without running the risk that the material with which they were made deteriorate and can generate mould? Here are some really easy DIY tricks you can do at home with peace of mind.
- How to clean old upholstery furniture
First you have to check the labels of the upholstery furniture to understand how it is possible to clean it; pay attention to the symbols that are printed on the label: W (you can wash it with water), S (without water), WS (both with or without water), or X (contact a professional). If you want to use a vacuum cleaner to give the upholstery a light clean, it is always better to brush the fabric before doing it.
However, if the label so provides, it is possible to clean the upholstery furniture with a homemade detergent. For example, to eliminate odors you can prepare a household solvent with a drop of baking soda and a cap of white vinegar, to remove stains a preparation of water and two drops of liquid soap, even for dishes. Rub the sponge in a hidden corner of the cabinet, then apply a second pass with a dry cloth; if the stain does not go away, consult a professional.
- How to clean old leather furniture
As for upholstery, using a vacuum cleaner to remove excess dust on furniture and leather furnishings is recommended after careful brushing. To remove stains, dirt and unsightly passages of time, you can use a household detergent made with water and 1 or 2 tablespoons of dish soap. Be careful and wipe the mild detergent first with a sponge moistened in water, then with a soft cloth. If the dirt does not go away, before contacting a professional, you can use white vinegar instead of dishwashing detergent, always mixed in equal parts with water. To remove stains on white or beige leather furniture, a homemade preparation of lemon juice and cream of tartar is recommended; for ink stains or mould, try denatured alcohol and cotton buds instead.
After thoroughly cleaning the dirt from the leather furniture, you can ensure that the surface is well hydrated and shiny. To do this you can try a mixture made up of one part of vinegar and two of linseed oil; spread it carefully on the leather surface, let it dry for about 10 minutes, then remove with a dry cloth. Also, to prevent leather furniture from drying out or cracking further, make sure it is at least 60 centimeters away from heat sources in your home, whether they are radiators, dehumidifiers or sunlight itself.
- How to clean old wooden furniture
First of all, before cleaning and putting new wooden furniture, you need to make sure what finish we are dealing with: if the piece of furniture has been treated with paint, stain or another type, you must act accordingly; also keep in mind that wooden furniture does not want too much water for their cleaning; excess water cracks and deforms the material. To remove dust or simple dirt from the wood, use a soft, dry cloth or rag, never a feather duster, as it can scratch the material; as for stains and halos, use a homemade mixture of water and dish soap, first squeezing a cloth and leaving it damp, then wiping it with a dry cloth; if the halo does not go away with the preparation, use white spirit. N.B. white spirit is only recommended for modern furniture, for older ones it is not sure how wood would react to this paint solution; you can do a test to see the result using a hidden corner of the piece of furniture, so as not to ruin it further.
To clean the finest wood, a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine is recommended. Mix 180 ml of boiled linseed oil in 250 ml of turpentine in a jar and shake well, then pour some on a small steel wool pad; rub into the wood grain and then wipe clean with a dry cloth. Turpentine is particularly recommended for raw wood furniture, because it gives it strength and does not dry or crack them. Finally, if you want to polish the wood, just remember this: if it is waxed wood, lemon oil and a damp cloth are enough, if it is not waxed, just wax suitable for the piece of furniture we want to treat.
- How to clean old acrylic and polymethyl methacrylate furniture
The so-called plexiglass furniture (PMMA) does not particularly need to be cleaned, but if you want to remove excess dust, just use a new, clean and soft cloth that has not been used to clean or polish other types of furniture; their residual dirt could ruin the acrylic material. As for the actual cleaning, do not use multipurpose detergents for these transparent surfaces, but only specific solutions to polish or clean plastic materials, using a soft and dry cloth.
- How to clean old woven furniture
First of all, make sure that the woven piece of furniture is wicker, bamboo, rattan or paper, as each of these materials needs a specific treatment. First of all, remove the cushions from the woven furniture and wash them separately as recommended by the manufacturer's label, then use the vacuum cleaner with the brush accessory, very suitable for woven wicker or bamboo in which the dust is well nested. If even with the brush attachment it does not go away, use a toothbrush or a brush.
To clean or wash the woven piece of furniture, brush it using soapy water with ammonia. Just mix one part of ammonia with two of water in a bucket and finally add a splash of liquid dish soap; to scrub you can use the brush, but also use a soft and dry cloth.
The last phase is also the most delicate one: you need to make sure that the wicker, rattan, paper or bamboo furniture is completely dried; these materials need a lot of sun and many days before they can be used again; the water does nothing but shrink them, so the return to their original shape in the drying phase is much slower.
These cleaning methods that we have just listed are not only easy to apply at home, but they will give new luster to your furniture that is no longer as new as it once was. Whether these are leather, upholstery, wood or wicker, we have the solution for them and for you.
Easy, right?
