All posts

Big cleaning day: how to clean plywood furniture?

Our customers often ask us how to clean one or the other furniture piece from our selection.  How to clean your plywood furniture fast and smart? Wood can be a tricky material to take care of at home. Where to start? While using the furniture, different stains can occur, starting from simple dust and ending with more difficult food stains. To maintain the products as long as possible, it is crucial to take care of them in the right way. We categorized the main tips for you:
1) Regular cleaning. Like with any other thing, with plywood furniture, it is also important that you clean it on a regular basis. This way you can keep a close eye on how the product is holding up.
2) Cleaning with (home) chemicals. In many cases, you can clean the furniture with dishwashing gel or buy a special cleaner that can be found in the construction materials shop. Before using, please follow the user manual. From your own home supplies, we recommend water and vinegar mix. It is important to point out that each piece of furniture can react differently to cleaning chemicals. It depends a lot on the finishing materials that have been used. Oiled/waxed vs stained/lacquered products need to handled differently. Basically you have to test, which tool is suitable for which product but if you have a question, you can contact us, to be sure.

Choose the tool based on the finishing:
1. Coloured – dishwashing gel;
2. Stained/lacquered – use a damp cloth;
3. Waxed – soap flakes that need to be mixed with water.

3) Cleaning technique. Whatever chemical you use, the cloth has to be clean. Also, it is important to remember that the cleaning with the cloth should be gentle. Please do not rub roughly. It can damage the top layer of the plywood. If you use water or any other liquid, make sure that the cloth is not too wet. When you use too much liquid on plywood it can cause the plywood to create bubbles in the top veneer.

General tips:

1) If water or other liquid stain gets on the surface of the product, try to remove it as fast as possible. This way avoiding a permanent stain is realistic.
2) The softer the cloth the better.
3) If possible, use a special cleaning liquid but test it before on the product on a smaller surface that is not so noticeable.
4) Humidity damages plywood furniture. That is why we recommend that the furniture is in a ventilated room or somewhere where the air moves a lot to decrease the humidity.
5) Direct sunlight on the product can also damage the appearance of the product. Choose a place where the sun does not directly shine on the product on a regular basis.
6) When cleaning the wooden surface, follow the pattern of the veneer and clean it in that direction.

What to do if your furniture is covered with laminate?

In Tarmeko LPD's selection are products that are covered with laminate, therefore we thought it is wise to add tips on how to clean laminated surfaces as well:
1) Cleaning technique. Similarly to plywood, while cleaning laminated surfaces you have to be patient and clean the product gently.
2) Using chemicals. Use a clean and mildly wet nonabrasive cotton cloth together with liquid cleaning chemicals. The cloth can’t be too wet because it can also damage the laminate.
3) Acetone or nail polish remover is a good substance to clean stains on laminate. Similarly to other special cleaning substances, it is important to use a clean cotton cloth and the cleaning itself should be done gently. Have patience!

Actually there is nothing too complicated about this matter. We hope that the listed tips are useful but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask! 

Sources:

  1. www.slideshare.net/flatt25/how-to-clean-plywood-kitchen-cabinets
  2. www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-clean-birch-plywood
  3. hwww.dummies.com/home-garden/home-improvement/cleaning-stain-removal/how-to-clean-wood-furniture-finishes/
  4. inspa.co.in/care-tips/plywood-care-tips/
  5. homeguides.sfgate.com/clean-wood-veneer-26980.html
  6. www.hermanmiller.com/
  7. plywoodproject.com/blog/plywood-project-more-than-plywood-furniture/how-to-take-care-of-plywood-furniture
  8. formica-india.com/how-to-clean-laminates/
  9. www.a-america.com/caring-for-solid-wood-furniture/
  10. www.dreamstime.com/stock-video-cleaning-furniture-wipes-hand-wooden-table-napkins-video55233916
  11. rieke.com/how-to-clean-laminate-office-furniture/