How to protect wood furniture from wear and tear: treatments & X-protector felt pads

There are quite a few wooden objects that are covered with varnish or paint, besides the floors in the house which should be protected from wear and tear.

What are the features of protecting wooden furniture?

Wooden furniture still needs protection, even though it is not exposed to moisture or ultraviolet radiation. 

Mostly, wear and tear occur in those places that are in contact with other surfaces: objects or human palms and soles. We are talking about tabletops, steps, and railings of stairs, shelves, stool, and chair seats, as well as the daily friction of the surfaces of wooden doors against the frame. Thus, we will focus on protection against abrasion, and not against temperature or chemical influences.

The wood furniture treatment oil

Oil for impregnating wooden furniture surfaces should contain a higher concentration of wax, primarily for aesthetic reasons: a thin wax layer that appears on the surface mattes it when the oil is absorbed. Two or more layers make the furniture shinier. There is no need for finishing - the wax itself plays its role.

It is oil (with or without wax), not varnish, and not even paint that emphasizes the natural structure of the tree with its graceful interweaving of fibers. If this is not always noticeable on the floor, then it is especially critical for furniture. Natural materials are back in vogue, and antique pieces of furniture painted with oil paint seem simply barbarously tainted.

Treatment with such a composition also has a working sense - wax in the composition of furniture oil increases the strength characteristics of the surface and, which is important, makes it more elastic.

Surface pretreatment

So, if the furniture is old and has already been covered with some unsuitable composition (varnish or paint), it can be saved by removing the old coating and restoring it. You can use a sander for large surfaces, but small parts will still need to be handled.

1. We apply thick paper to the countertop (step, shelf, etc.) and press the hot iron against it for a few seconds.
2. Now we clean off the paint or varnish with a spatula or a sharp knife - they will come off faster when heated. You can use a building hairdryer.
3. Where the paint is deeply embedded in the structure of the wood, you need to use a remover.
4. After that, remove the old top layer of wood with a plane.
5. Then we clean the surface with sandpaper. Important: we grind only along the grain. We do this for two reasons: firstly, the pores of the tree do not close, and secondly, the beautiful natural pattern remains intact.

If we are processing new furniture, then we start from point # 5. Now we are polishing and making final preparations for applying the oil.

1. Polishing is done using a flat grinder with fine-grained attachments. The greater the graininess, the smoother the surface will be, but it is important not to overdo it. Otherwise, you can close the pores of the wood.
2. The wood can be wiped down with an alkaline solution to brighten the dark fibers and increase the overall contrast.

The technology of processing wooden furniture with oil

We will need a brush with oval bristles and a piece of soft cloth with which we will remove excess oil. It is necessary to start processing the surface after its preparation as soon as possible, since soon after grinding and polishing the opened pores of the wood "close", that is, they are filled with resins and their own oils.

1. The first run will take a lot of oil, but it is better not to overdo it and apply it in a very thin layer. Most likely, the wood will give back part of the composition. We will apply the second layer, but the protruding oil must still be removed, otherwise, it will dry out with an ugly and uneven film. We remove the oil with a soft cloth or microfiber.
2. After a few hours, or better the next day, re-treatment is carried out - in the same way, with a soft oval brush.
3. If the surface that we are processing is located vertically (for example, the door of a kitchen cabinet), you need to try to give it a horizontal position for a while so that the color remains uniform, and the oil that has come out without our supervision does not leave ugly streaks.

Finishing is optional if we use hard wax oil, although clear oil can be used to add shine. If we apply ordinary oil without additives, it can be polished with wax - it will give a beautiful matting effect.

Further protection of wooden furniture

As we wrote earlier, the main goal is to protect furniture from wear and tear during everyday use. And of course, the question “how to protect our furniture after such a long operation of treatment?” arises. 

We highly recommend using X-protector felt pads and caster cups. 

Felt pads could be used in a variety of ways: they can protect the wooden doors of a dresser or cabinet from wear and tear and even from an unpleasant noisy sound when closing.

Custer cups could protect as legs of your chairs, tables, beds, etc as your wooden floors.