April 7, 2009
Oak Finished with Danish Oil
Finishing is probably one of the most important elements of an attractive piece of wood furniture. There is a vast array of different finishes available on the wooden furniture retail market today. It can be quite daunting to make sense of all the various finishes and their comparative benefits and downfalls. Below are some of the most common finishes of hardwood furniture with a little information regarding the pros and cons of each.
Danish Oil
Many people think that Danish Oil is a finish which penetrates deeply into the wood. This, however, is not true. The oil does penetrate slightly deeper than other finishes but not to the extent many people believe it does. It is vital that Danish Oil is able to penetrate the wood effectively in order to produce an excellent quality of finish. This means that if your hardwood furniture has been previously finished with either lacquer or paint, Danish Oil will not be an effective method of finishing that item. Danish Oil is the best product for giving an attractive natural finish to your wood furniture. It has a soft sheen to it, rather than the high gloss that lacquers produce. This has several advantages, in that it doesn’t show up fingerprints or dust, and should the wood furniture be damaged it is easy to repair for novices and experts alike, as all that’s required is a light sanding and reapplication. A lacquered finish, by contrast, will need the whole piece stripping and refinishing – a very expensive job that should only be undertaken by a trained professional.
Mango Finished with BeeswaxBeeswax is a natural way of finishing wood furniture. It can be used on virtually every type of wood used for furniture, but is most effective on hardwood furniture, such as mango. It will create a perfect, highly attractive finish which also serves as a protective layer which will help to keep your furniture looking its best no matter what. Beeswax is a great product for people concerned about the environment as it is completely natural and free from any nasty chemicals which can often be found in household products, such as polishes. Beeswax can be used very economically as only a small amount is needed to gain the desired effect. It is also excellent at revitalising distressed wood. Beeswax brings out the fine grain of the wooden furniture and achieves a beautifully tactile silky smooth finish. The finish that both beeswax and Danish oil produce is known as an unsealed wood finish. Therefore it is not recommended that chemical cleaning products are used, as these will permeate the wood, drying it out and causing irreparable cracking. Feather dusting or the use of a damp cloth is all that should be needed to care for your wooden furniture.
Sprayed Lacquer
Sprayed lacquer achieves 100% adhesion with underlying layers meaning that it seals the wooden furniture and produces a high gloss finish. At first this sounds very desirable, it does have its downsides though: it can be quiet easily scratched and the slightest marks or fingerprints will be very obvious, making it a high maintenance finish. This can be guarded against by protecting it with mats, cloths, etc., but what’s the point of having beautiful hardwood furniture if you have to cover it up?
Polyurethane
Polyurethane is a common film finish for wooden furniture. This is another finish that seals the wood. It is relatively inexpensive and easy for manufacturers to apply. For this reason it is often used on cheap, inferior quality wooden furniture, such as pine furniture. There are many disadvantages in using polyurethane to finish wood furniture. It shares many qualities of lacquered furniture, but it is also susceptible to damage from ultra-violet light exposure. This can crack the finish leaving white marks that are impossible to remove. Because of this, polyurethane finished furniture should not be kept in natural sunlight – a serious disadvantage unless you are furnishing a room without windows!
In summary
By far the best finishes for high quality wood furniture are either Danish oil or beeswax. They bring out the stunning beauty of wooden furniture grains and leave wood satisfying to the touch. Steer well clear of varnish and polyurethane if you are after a luxurious piece of quality furniture. For more information on wooden furniture care, please see our guide to
treating hardwood furniture.
August 22, 2008
The hall, through history, has gone through many different incarnations. Coming from the Old Teutonic word Halla, it originally meant any large building, but it soon moved on to become a byword for any important building, city hall, town hall etc. Then it became, and continues to be, the name for university accommodation and is also used as we most commonly understand it today. That is, the name for the entrance corridor of your home, more often than not linked to the front door. In this way it is often the first place a person entering your home sees, and as such it is prudent if you want to give a welcoming atmosphere that this area be outfitted and decorated as such.
A hallway is often a relatively narrow room, and as such there is not a great scope for putting furniture in. However, a hall table can give a practical and welcoming ambience to your hallway.
Of course, size is always a concern, but nowadays you can find good furniture, such as hall tables, in all manner of sizes and styles. This article presumes oak furniture primarily as the qualities of oak, it’s strength and colouring as well as it’s more emblematic use as a symbol for strength and endurance, makes for excellent pieces of furniture.
There are many companies, online and otherwise, that produce and stock this type of oak furniture, hall tables in particular. However you should always, where you can, research prices and companies across the internet as you might find that some companies produce greater quality furniture for better value prices than others.
In any case, a small hall table can complement a hallway, and can be used practically, for the storage of keys and somewhere to base your telephone. Alternatively a hall table can be used in a more decorative way, such as having a welcoming vase of flowers on the table top.
Of course, this is just the beginning, and there are other types of oak furniture that can offer more practicality. Other, larger pieces boast a larger table top area, which could take advantage of any of the ideas above. Furthermore, the larger pieces of oak furniture often feature dovetailed, solid drawers, which can be used to store phonebooks or notepads for taking phone messages as just one example. In general larger table top pieces can help provide a basic but stylish storage option in your home.
The largest hall table pieces often seek to double their utility by including something extra in with their design that might come with other, standalone pieces of oak furniture. For instance, some designs often feature a large tabletop surface, but underneath there is shelving, which can be used to store books, CDs or DVDs, giving an elegant storage method. Along this line, some designs also feature special shelves that allow for baskets to be slid into, again offering a storage option for newspapers, magazines or anything else you need to store away.
Finally, it should be noted that a fine piece of oak furniture, purely by virtue of being well made and constructed from oak wood, is very easy on the eye and beautifies any space. This is a separate attribute that can be filed alongside the hall table’s utility. In short, oak furniture is a stylish way to accentuate your home, but ensure you check on companies and the quality of their product before you buy from them to avoid any disappointment.
