Amish Originals Furniture Co.: Creating Atmosphere

Indoor heat and humidity play a role in maintaining the beauty of your hardwood furniture...

When the hardwood cut to make your furniture starts to be furniture, half the weight of that freshly-sawn wood is water!

As part of the furniture-making process, freshly cut wood is carefully dried to the point that there is just enough moisture present to help your furniture gain and retain its beauty and durability, over time, in your home.

Over the life of the furniture, hardwood continues to interact with its environment as it expands and contracts in response to the humidity in the room.

Remember studying the water cycle in grade school? Humidity is simply the presence of vaporized water in the air. Warm air holds more humidity than cool.

Just like our skin, wood can maintain moisture or become dry, and just like our skin, routine can help insure radiance and beauty year-after-year.

Here are a few tips for you hardwood furniture care:

▪ Maintain 35% to 55% humidity year-round: If a humidifier is not part of your HVAC system, consider purchasing a portable humidifier or increase humidity through decor with a room fountain, hearth steamer, cast iron tea kettle, houseplants, or set a metal container with water on a floor register.

▪ Keep chimneys clean.

▪ Try to avoid direct heat, whether from a fireplace, radiator, or air flow from a register.

▪ Keep a regular schedule for HVAC servicing and maintenance. For attached humidifiers, ask your service provider to make sure your humidifier is working at peak efficiency. Keep portable humidifers clean.

▪ When you store table leaves, consider storing them in a closet in the same room or on the same floor with your dining furniture to maintain humidity levels for all parts of the furniture. If anything, avoid storing table leaves in a basement, attic, or garage.

▪ Vary continuous exposure to the sun by occasionally adjusting curtains and blinds. Direct sunlight shining through windows increases the temperatures of surfaces touched by sunlight.



Originally presented in November 2007. Additional sources: woodweb.com, homeairtreatment.com, blueflame.org, hardwoodinfo.com. No endorsements implied.