Furniture Use and Care

Your Europe Direct Antiques Warehouse furniture will provide years of beautiful use if treated with care. Our wax finishes are resistant to every day minor hazards, but carelessness with hot dishes or liquids such as alcohols and water will harm the finish. Use pads beneath accessories when eating or writing, remove spills & smudges immediately, avoid placing furniture near heating outlets, windows, or in direct sunlight.

Maintain the fine finish by simply dusting with a soft clean cloth. If required, you may use a damp cloth to clean, just don’t leave standing water on the finish.

Every six months polish the furniture with a quality furniture wax, we recommend Fiddes Wax Polish. The wax contains stain and comes in various colors. Stripped Pine (honey color) and Rugger Brown (dark brown) are the two most popular colors for our pine tables, both are available at EDW. Stripped Pine indicates the color of the wax and can be used on any color wood.  In fact, at our warehouse we wax all of our dark furniture with Stripped Pine wax.

Waxing

The following instructions are to be used as a guide. As always, wax should first be applied to an inconspicuous area such as the inside of a table leg to ensure compatibility with your existing finish. Low quality stains or inferior finishes could be adversely affected by waxing.
To wax your pine table or other furniture:

• Apply the wax in a thin even coat using a dry cloth, #0000 (very fine) oil-free steel wool, or an old (clean) paint brush (brush will become unusable and should only be used for waxing) rubbing with the grain of the wood trying to work along the length of the table one plank at a time. Wipe off excess wax—surface will appear dull at first. Work across the entire table top in the same fashion.
• Buff with a dry lint-free cloth when wax is dry to the touch (usually within 10 minutes) for a rich lustrous finish. Turn cloth often. If the finish appears greasy, it requires more buffing.
  
• Enjoy your furniture!

White Water Rings:

White water rings are caused by condensation of moisture directly into the finished surface of the wood, affecting the finish from the outside in. Most finishes are durable enough that only the top layer of finish is affected.

Apply wax with #0000 oil-free steel wool, very lightly, in the direction of the grain. Work on half of the water ring at a time. Use Clear wax. As soon as you begin to see the ring fade, stop, wipe off the excess, buff and repeat the same process to the other half of the ring, until both sides match. BE PATIENT. This may require several repetitions. Be sure to feather out the edges of working area to blend with the entire finish.

Once you have removed the water ring, use colored wax with a cloth to renew the entire piece.

Dried & Cracked Finishes:

Lightly apply wax with #0 oil-free steel wool to remove just top layer of old, dried finish. This will take some time, but you will save the original finish. Once you have finished removing top layer, continue waxing entire piece using above instructions.

Consumer Warning:

Most waxes are flammable and as such should not be applied near an open flame. Adequate ventilation is required during waxing due to fumes. Waxes generally liquefy in hot weather; which does not diminish the quality of the product and can still be applied. Sloppy application of wax can stain clothing and anything else it may come in contact with.

We carry Fiddes Wax

We offer Fiddes Wax in both Stripped Pine and Rugger Brown.  We are happy to send you a can in the mail for $25.

• We like Fiddes because it is Toluene free.