All off the oak that we use to
manufacture the tables and chairs that we offer is hand selected and scrutinised
to ensure only the best cuts are used to make the furniture that we sell.
To bring out the true beauty of natural oak we finish most of our Lithuanian
made furniture in a light
coating of Becker Acroma oil as we believe this gives a better finish and appearance with the
premium European oak that we use for many of our designs. Over time as the oil dries out from the
oak the colour may lighten slightly at which point you can apply a new coat of
oil to help protect the wood. The more oil that is added to the European oak the
darker that the finish may become so you can vary the timescales between re oiling
to make the table slightly darker or lighter if you wish. Some customers
may notice a variation in the colour between some table and chair designs and we
always suggest that customers apply a good coat of Becker Acroma oil to bring
out the natural colours of the oak to darken it a little. A more hard
wearing finish that is more resistant to liquid spills and that required less
ongoing maintenance is
Danish oil. If in doubt, ask
us for advice as we are happy to help and make suggestions.
New
Tallinn Dining Table Furniture Care Guide and
Provence Table Care Guide available to download.
Care instruction for European solid oak Minsk table and Baltic furniture ranges
from Lithuania.
Care instruction for Lichfield, Cambridge, Riga and Caravella oak dining tables.
Care instructions for Vancouver oak furniture.
We have recently introduced some new dining tables designs called the
Lichfield, Caravella
and Riga
dining tables and we recommend that Danish oil is applied to these tables
instead of the vegetable based Becker Acroma oil but the factory oil finish on
these tables is much more long lasting and more resistant to liquid spills than
tables that are treated with Becker oil so they should required much less
ongoing maintenance. If customers want to give these extra protection for
heavy use where liquid spills may be a problem we recommend that 3 thin coats of
Danish are applied at 24 hour intervals.
Our very popular
Country Oak
dining range comes pre treated with an oiled wax finish from the
manufacturer and we recommend that these tables are treated with Bees Wax once
or twice a year and we recommend the
Bri Wax original
bees wax product and
wax filler sticks
for touching up any marks or scratches on the tables.
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Furniture Care Tips
1. Avoid direct exposure to
sunlight for long periods of time. This may lighten the oak over time and
accelerate the evaporation of the protective oils that have soaked into the
oak. If your dining room is in direct sunlight near a sunny window you
might want to consider covering the table top during the hotter summer months
with a table runner or
table cloth when the table is not in use or make sure that the table is
re oiled if it starts to dry out too much.
2. Never wipe oiled oak furniture with a wet or damp cloth as this
may remove the protective oils from the table
and it may leave a mark on the surface of the oak.
If you get a spillage soak it up with a dry cloth immediately and the gently dab
the area with a damp cloth to try and remove as much liquid as possible very
quickly and then dry off properly with a dry cloth again. A light dusting
should be enough for general cleaning.
3. Apply a new coating of oil to
furniture when the oil appears to be drying up on the surface. This is
likely to be once or twice a year to keep tables in tip top condition. We recommend that
you use Becker Acroma oil which we can supply but its often much easier to get
some Linseed oil,
Tung oil or Danish oil
which can be purchased from us via the links below or from good DIY stores. Danish
oil dries to a harder more resistant finish on the table top compared to the
other oils making it more
resistant to scratching or minor spillages. The best
way to apply Becker Acroma, Linseed, Teak or Tung oil to a dining table is with the soft side of a kitchen cleaning
sponge by applying a good coating all over the table and allowing it to soak in
for 15 - 30 minutes and to then wipe off all the excess oil with some soft
absorbent paper kitchen towels so that a nice even finish is achieved.
Care needs to be taken with chairs as the oil can stain fabrics. Danish
oil is best applied with a large paint brush or the soft side of a kitchen
sponge and the drying time for this oil is
much quicker so its important to try and coat the table top as quickly as
possible with a nice thin even covering and repeat 3 - 4 times for a good resistant
finish allowing at least 12 hours between coats and ideally a few days to harden
off properly after the final coat.
4. Try not to have to have the central
heating on too high in the dining room when not in use as this will dry the
protective oils out quicker meaning you may have to re apply oil more regularly.
5. Download our
furniture care instructions supplied
by
Becker Acroma who are one of Europe's biggest furniture oil
manufacturers. Becker oils are applied to all of our oiled oak tables during
manufacture and we can now offer 0.5 litre bottles for £8.99 which can be added
to the shopping cart at check out.
6. Don't stand on dining chairs or
allow people to rock backwards on the back legs as it may damage them.
7. Use mats on tables for cups and
plates so that there is not direct contact with hot or damp items with the oak
surface.
8. Never drag a table along a
floor as this may cause damage to the table joints and could also damage your
flooring. Consider purchasing some protective pads to put on the underside
of the table legs.
9. If you do get a mark on an oiled oak table top then you maybe be able to fix
this with a light rub down with ultra fine (400 grade) wet and dry sand paper that's
lubricated with some boiled linseed or Becker Acroma oil. Always try this
on the underside of the table first or on the inside edge of a table leg to
check that you are happy with the result before you try it on the table top.
10. Enjoy your furniture! That's the reason you bought it so with a little common sense and minimal
maintenance it should last you a lifetime.
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