Heritage Woodcare
Restores, feeds, revitalises
Turning salvaged and recycled wood into furniture.
Apr 19th
Back in March I posted about a water damaged wood floor from a gym that had been recycled into tables. Since then I have been surprised by the number of articles I have seen about turning recycled and salvaged wood into beautiful and useful items of furniture.(for examples see http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2012/03/salvaged-wood-furniture.html and http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/28/HOES1NAV1G.DTL) There are many stories ansd articles similar to the ones quoted. All this is, of course, very green and I have seen many examples myself of friends and neighbours reusing old items of furniture or using discarded palletts as fencing, etc.
Using recycled wood or turning unloved items of furniture into items that will be loved and cherished does, of course, require skill, dedication and hard work. Using Heritage Woodcare to clean and polish recycled wood does take a lot of the hard work out of the cleaning process. Heritage Woodcare removes all the build up of silicones, wax, grease and grime, restoring the wood’s original finish or as much of the finish as possible. This means that writing, lines, etc still on the wood will remain and provide a talking point.
Visit www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk for more information about Heritage Woodcare, instructions for use and to be able to buy it
An easy way to remove bitumen from a wood floor using Heritage Woodcare
Apr 7th
I get regular requests for information on removing bitumen from wood flooring so I thought it would do no harm to go through the process again.
I had this problem myself when my wife and I took up the carpet in our hall. Lifting the carpet revealed a wonderful parquet floor made from oak. As the carpet had been down for a number of years, the parquet was very dirty with many black marks from the bitumen used to stick the “tiles” down. It needed several sweeepings to get up all the dust, etc, from the floor which then required cleaning and polishing. To do this I used Scotchbrite (a non-scratch scourer) soaked in Heritage Woodcare and scrubbed the floor. I was very pleased with the result as the floor came up beautiful with the added bonus of all the black marks being removed. All that is required now is regular polishing using a mop soaked in Heritage Woodcare
Heritage Woodcare can be bought online, visit http://www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/products-page/
Getting your outdoor wood furniture ready for use.
Mar 28th
Isn’t the weather glorious. Yes, I know we need rain but it is so much brighter when the sun shines, makes us feel so much more cheerful. Yesterday, when my daughter and her boyfriend were visiting us, we had a ‘take away’ from our local pub and ate outside on the patio. Made me realise I ought to blog about getting outdoor wooden furniture ready for use.
No doubt, like me, you stored your garden furniture and, with the adv4ent of the sunshine, want to start using it. I hope you got your furniture ready for storeage, i,e, cleaned it with your Heritage Woodcare, prior to storeage. Now all you need to do is to go over it again using your Heritage Woodcare (visit www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/how-to-use for a reminder on how to use it) and you are ready This cleans and polishes your furniture and will leave it looking good.
Do enjoy your bbq’s, etc. I know I am looking forward to making the most of the sunshine myself.
how to remove the droplets of hairspray
Mar 22nd
Interesting question in my inbox this week - how to remove the droplets of hairspray ? I must admit I have never come across this before but, well, the droplets that don’t hold your hair in place do have to go somewhere. As Heritage Woodcare will remove the buildup of silicones, waxes, grease and grime it will also cope with removing the droplets of hairspray. You just use it in the usual way (see http://www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/how-to-use/. Buying Heritage Woodcare online is easy, just visit http://www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/products-page/
water damaged wood floor to be made into furniture
Mar 17th
There has been an interesting story recently about an old gym floor that has been turned into furniture. Apparently, the floor had been damaged by a water leak so had been taken up and replaced. Realising that there was a valuable resource with a fantastic heritage (many local people would be interested in having some of the floor they, or their children had done gymnastics on) a local company bought the wood rather than let it go to landfill. They are now making it into tables and are leaving it complete with all the different lines and markings on. See the story at http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20120221/NEWS01/202210313/Water-damaged-floor-from-Northside-Aztlan-resurrected-handmade-furniture?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CNews
These tables will make a fantastic talking point and having the tramlines, etc. on just adds to the interest. Heritage Woodcare is ideal to clean them up and keep them looking good. It will take off all the build up that has accumulated over the years leaving the tables looking really smart .For instructions on how to use visit http://www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/how-to-use/ Buy it online at http://www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/products-page/
Using Heritage Woodcare to remove sunlight bleaching and odours
Mar 8th
Two interesting items in my mailbag this week, the answer to both is Heritage Woodcare. I have received queries asking for help on whether sunlight damages furniture and also removing the smell of scented candles from pre-owned furniture.
As regards the question about sunlight, and the query stated that net curtains had been placed in the window meaning the sunlight was partially indirect, yes, sunlight (direct or indirect) bleaches the finish (not darkens it as someone stated) This bleaching is akin to a white heat mark most of which can be removed by using Heritage Woodcare. Regular use of Heritage will prevent your furniture drying out and will stop the bleaching effect
Now to the question about removing the odour of scented candles. The odour will be in the build-up that is on the furniture, so, remove the build-up and you will remove the odour. Heritage Woodcare removes the build-up of silicones, waxes, grease and grime, However, more than one application may be needed to fully remove the odours, especially if the finish goes streaky.
In both situations, you use your Heritage Woodcare in the same way, see http://www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/how-to-use/ Heritage Woodcare can be bought on-line, visit http://www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/products-page/
More about restoring wood furniture and using Heritage Woodcare
Mar 6th
Further to my last blog about restoring furniture, I have come across a site that gives a tip about how to fix dents in wood floors and furniture using just an iron – check out http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-fix-dents-in-wooden-floors-furniture-with-an-iron-166696
It is an interesting article and is illustrated, The author does caution you on using it on particular finishes suggesting you try in an unseen area first. There is a danger that steam can damage these finishes and / or leave a white mark or haze. Should this problem occur, it can be rectified using Heritage Woodcare
One of the features of Heritage Woodcare is that it will remove most white heat, ring, and water marks. I have also used it quite successfully to hide scratch marks on my oak parquet floor – visit http://www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/how-to-use/ for instructions on how to use. Heritage Woodcare can be obtained online, visit http://www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/products-page/
Restoring wood furniture
Mar 4th
I have just been reading a fascinating article about restoring wood furniture – check out http://www.southgatechamber.com/renovating-wooden-furniture.html but then come back and finish reading this post. The author gives you such a lot of really good advice. Like him though i would emphasise, do not attempt on antique or really good quality furniture. Doing so will totally destroy any value attached to that piece of furnture.
There is, however, another way of restoring furniture without having to put in so much time and effort. The article reminded me of the comments made to me by a customer some years ago. She had bought some wood chairs that were in need of renovation. She was showing them to a neighbour and telling her about the plans for restoration – sanding and staining much as described in the article. The neighbour replied to the effect that using Heritage Woodcare would achieve the same results but with much less effort. The neighbour then went to get her own bottle of Heritage and demonstated the great results you can get using Heritage Woodcare. The result to me was to have another customer.
This isn’t to say, however, that Heritage Woodcare is always the answer. There are situations such as fire damage, paint spills,etc. where Heritage Woodcare or similar products will be totally ineffective and you will find better answers in the article but, before starting out on any restoration projects, do consider whether there are alternatives to hard work.
How can I remove bird droppings from my outdoor wood furniture?
Feb 28th
I have recently posted a couple of blogs on removing bird droppings from a leather coat on my sister blog www.heritagepolish.blogspot.com This may or may not be coincidental but I have also received a request for help on removing bird droppings from outdoor furniture.
I am assuming it is wooden furniture we are talking about. As with leather, the earlier the droppings are removed the better as they are acid and can damage the finish. You first need to remove the droppings and to do this I would suggest using paper kitchen towel or something similar. That gets rid of the nuisance problem.
My next move would depend on the finish to the furniture. If it is teak that has been allowed to weather so has a sivery finish I would probably just sand the affected area and then just leave it to weather back to the silvery colour. Using polish or something similar would damage the silvery effect and turn it black
If the furniture has been painted / varnished or has been waxed or had a similar polish applied then you are safe to use a product like Heritage (Celtic) Woodcare. As always when using products like Heritage Woodcare, apply it to the whole area not just the damaged area. This way you are stopping the finish becoming patchy and streaky. For instructions on how to use Heritage woodcare visit http://www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/how-to-use/
You can obtain Heritage Woodcare online, visit http://www.heritagewoodcare.co.uk/products-page/
How to remove ring marks from your wood furniture
Feb 17th
In my inbox this week was a request for help on removing ring marks on an oak dining table. This is something that comes up quite regularly. If it isn;t ring marks, then it is water marks or white heat marks. The task of removing all of them is the same.
Heritage Woodcare cleans and polishes your wood, taking off most of the buildup of silicones, waxes, greae and grime and will also take off nost white heat marks, ring marks and water marks..It was specially created to look after your wood furniture properly, quickly and easily, replicating the skill and hard work of the old grandmasters who would take time and much effort when looking after fine wood furniture.
Using it is very easy. Simply shake your bottle thoroughly, pour some of the polish into a container, soak a clean cloth (such as a duster) in the polish, squeeze and wring it out till it is damp dry, return the surplus polish to your container and you are now ready. All you need do now is wipe and there is no need to buff up! Regular use of Heritage Woodcare will help to keep your furniture / wood floors / etc clean and being oil-based will also look after them.