The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
The Care Of Wood Work In The Home
The Maintenance Of Furniture And Other Polished Woodwork
WHILST household woodwork asks very little in the way of regular maintenance, the putting right of long-term neglect and misuse can entail considerable time and labour. The policy should, therefore, always be prevention rather than cure, because it is sometimes impossible, with antiques and structural timbers particularly, entirely to restore long-standing damage: by taking the proper steps, however, it is always possible to prevent further deterioration.
The chief enemies of household woodwork are excessive dryness, damp and wood-boring beetles. The first two make attack by the third much more likely.
Wood is a hygroscopic material, made up, in non-technical language, of fibres and cells. It constantly varies in girth according to the changing amounts of humidity in the atmosphere. Damp must be avoided, for it destroys the polish and swells the wood. The swelling of doors and drawers causes jamming and consequent straining of joints and chipping and tearing off of lippings and veneers. The destruction of polished surfaces and damage to edgings and joints provides easy lodgment for timber-boring beetles. Extreme instances of damp can cause rot.
Excessive sunlight causes most varieties of wood to change color. This in itself may not necessarily be considered a disadvantage; much of the charm of antique woodwork is due to its mellow coloring. Some woods, such as Spanish mahogany, sycamore, box and pearwood, darken in a strong light; other woods, such as Honduras mahogany, lignum vitae and walnut, fade. Even if you desire these changes in color, it is advisable to attain them gradually, under conditions of normal light and heat exposure, over a long period. Forced bleaching or darkening by means of exposure to unduly strong sunlight is rather like excessive sun-bathing it has painful and very similar after-effects; the wood shrinks and splits and veneers lift at the edges or form blisters. As with damp, an easy lodgment is provided for timber-boring beetles.
Unless furniture is placed so near to a source of artificial heat as to be damaged, there is no reason to fear splitting of seasoned woodwork in a home heated by the traditional open coal fire, or where gas or electrical fires are only used intermittently. Under these conditions, any undue reduction of humidity effected during the day, is rectified at night. With continuous central heating, particularly where windows are kept closed, there is a progressive reduction of humidity throughout the winter. This imposes great strain and does considerable damage to all woodwork. Even antique furniture and bygones made many centuries ago and, therefore, thoroughly seasoned, will shrink and split under such excessively dry conditions. This is because they are used to normal room air in which the humidity in Britain usually ranges round about 14% to 16%, whilst with continuous central heating they may find themselves in an atmosphere containing only 9% or 10% moisture.
