How to Care for your new Custom Piece
Jointed Walnut Table featuring live edge walnut legs
So you just got that perfect piece, the cutting board, the table or other piece of furniture that you have dreamed of for years. You are probably thinking how do I keep this table clean? What are the best products to use on my new cutting board? Well there is no one answer, but in general the options are fairly simple!
To revive the shine on your beautiful cutting board, who’s grain just doesn’t pop like it used to, I like to recommend my clients pick up a bottle of the aptly named… cutting board oil! Simple enough right? After washing and drying the board following its latest use a simple microfiber towel and some cutting board oil should polish up the piece to near its original sheen. Simply wet the end of the towel with the oil mixture rub the board down wait about 15 minutes and wipe off any excess oil. Voila! Your board is now just as beautiful and bright as the day you bought it.
How about the beautiful custom resin table you fell in love with and a friend immediately spilled wine on? Not to fret! All hope has not been lost!
Tables come in a variety of finishes, so this will be where we see some variation in the proper cleaning solutions. For a Polyurethane coated table, a simple mixture of liquid soap and water should suffice and for any really tough spills; polyurethane can handle an even more powerful household cleanser.
On the other hand, say you went with a natural oil finish with a product like Odies Oil or Rubio Monocoat +2C. Here we still have strong spill protection, as each oil bonds with the wood to become water resistant, but there is not a traditional seal around the wood as we see with Polyurethane finishes. In order to not damage the oil based finish or the wood itself, we want to take care in cleaning any messes on tables with this type of finish.
For my table with Rubio’s finish, I first try and clean all spills with a lightly dampened rag using only water. I emphasize lightly because if you place a sopping wet rag on your wood table that has resistance but not full protection from liquid you run the risk of increasing the moisture content in the wood itself and that can lead to warping, cracking and all sorts of other not ideal issues with your beautiful new table. For those messes that require a little more umph to care for, Rubio has us covered! As they have a very light liquid soap cleanser specifically made for their oil based surfaces! Their Surface care spray cleans even tough messes with a gentle touch that refreshes the oil based finish, bringing cleanliness and even more beauty to your dream table!
