Easy Steps For Cleaning Furniture With Mineral Spirits
Mineral turpentine, turpentine substitute, and petroleum spirits are the other names of mineral spirits which are very useful for cleaning the stains from your wood furniture, if you have old stains on your furniture then clean it with mineral spirits, follow the given steps carefully to successfully finish your work:
Using Mineral Spirits On Furniture
- Test: First take a cotton ball and moisten it with the mineral spirits then test it on your wood furniture. Mineral spirits do not damage most wood furniture but still, keep your finish safe. Dab some on a cotton ball, and rub it on a hidden spot of your wood furniture. Check if there is no damage to the finish then you can clean the entire surface of your furniture with the mineral spirits.
- Soak: Simply soak a clean cloth in the mineral spirits and follow the next step.
- Wipe: Wipe down your wood furniture with the cloth. Be sure that your cloth is not dripping, rub it over the wood furniture surface to thoroughly clean it. Mineral spirits can remove old dirt and stains, so work slowly and carefully to get rid of these stains and dirt.
- Rinse: Dampen a cloth with clean cold water and rinse your wood furniture surface. Now, wet another clean, lint-free cloth with water and wring it out and gently wipe it over the wooden furniture to rinse off the mineral spirits completely.
- Dry: This is your final step, dry thoroughly your wooden furniture with a cloth. To prevent having any excess moisture sitting on your wooden furniture, but it’s important to dry the furniture. Take another clean, lint-free cloth to wipe the surface and remove any moisture.
Waxing Your Wood Furniture
This is an optional method, if you want to give extra life and a new finish to your old furniture then follow the given steps carefully:
- Check: After following the previous method of cleaning the furniture with mineral spirits now, wax your wood furniture. Furniture wax helps form a protective film on the surface of your wooden furniture. Remember, if your furniture is dirty when you apply the wood wax, then you are only winding up trapping the grime beneath your furniture, and this will cause more difficulty to get the furniture clean in the upcoming years.
- Cloth: Pour a spoonful of wood wax on a clean cloth and knead it properly. Use pure cotton cloth and also lint-free. Resemble your wood wax the same as the size of a golf ball. Wrap your cloth around the wax, and gently knead it by using your hand until your wax is softened.
- Buff: Now, buff the wax into the wooden furniture and cover the entire surface. When you see the wood wax is softened, rub it over the wood furniture with the cotton cloth in circular motions.
- Wipe: After rubbing the wax now wipe away any excess wax with a clean cotton cloth. Use a clean, lint-free cotton cloth to wipe away extra wax film to restore the natural finish of your furniture.
- Second Coat (optional): Apply a second coat of wax for maximum shine, if you think that previous step was enough dust your wooden furniture regularly to avoid building up the grime in the future.