How to polish wood at home?

We have a wooden dining table that we have been using from time immemorable. It has been a few decades that the table has lost its shine and recently, I had taken it upon myself to make it shine. But I didn’t have any idea about how to make it shine, so I called my uncle and asked him how do you polish wood?

How to Polish Old Furniture at Home?

Uncle told me about a few steps and I have mentioned those below.

Step 1: Remove Old Wax

Uncle told me that when it comes to how to polish a wood, the first step is always removing the old wax. For that, he told me to dampen a dry microfiber cloth with a wax remover and wipe along the grain of the wood. Then he asked me to wait until it's dry to ensure that I didn’t damage the wood. 

Step 2: Apply Polish

For the next step, he asked me to take some wax on a dry microfiber cloth. According to him, this will allow the polish to absorb into the cloth and the furniture can be polished without applying much. He then told me to rub the cloth along the grain of the wood to work in the polish.

Step 3: Add Multiple Polish Layers

Finally, he said to wait till the first layer dries. Following this, I was asked to keep adding layers to achieve the finish I wanted. 

And that’s what my uncle told me when I asked him how do you polish wood. I hope this helps. 

If you're a big fan of DIYs, a little low on budget and have an itch to make your furniture shine like it’s new then I have something for you. During lockdown I took it upon myself to go on a cleaning spree and make everything look new as ever so I tried to find out how to polish wood at home. Surprisingly enough, I found out so many tricks and tips to do that. I can share with you what worked for me. 

Here’s what you can do for the periodic maintenance of your wooden furniture:

1. Clean the dust off your furniture before applying polish to it. You need a piece of cloth, and some water. Dampen your cloth and wipe off the dust carefully. If you find some tough stains you can use dish soap to remove them.

2. Now take equal parts of lemon juice and vinegar in a spray bottle and get started with the second round of cleaning. Lemon will work as a disinfectant while vinegar will help in removing greasy prints.

3. When it comes to shine and conditioning, you can either get a store-bought polish or make your own by mixing equal parts of olive oil and lemon juice. Olive oil acts as a protective barrier against dust and dirt which can penetrate the wood. 

4. If you are looking to buy wooden polish from store make sure that you gather all the information about it including how to polish furniture at home. Generally, you will find french polish, lamination polish, melamine polish or PU polish. You can choose whichever one you wish after understanding the purpose and application of each.

5. Now that you are ready with your material, just take a microfiber cloth and dip it into the polish and work it on your wooden furniture. You will have to buff it until the furniture has a shiny look.

You can also call the experts to perform the job for you if you think there are any chances of a mess up.

I hope you now have answers to your query how to polish wood at home.

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