Wood Care 101 

You’re preparing to add a more rustic and earthy design to your home. Then you go shopping online and find the wooden products you want. You order, receive the delivery, and now it’s living in a little corner of your home. 

It’s a great addition but now you might be thinking, “how do I maintain it?” Just like any homeware or kitchenware at home, wooden products also need some maintenance, especially if you truly want to prolong the life of your homeware. In addition, since most wooden homewares also serve as a nice home decor to any room, making it look “new” and more “lively” is essential.

“So do I wash it? Polish or just wipe it from time to time?” The answer to these questions really depends. But the following are the best practices to take care of your wooden products at home.

Please note: The following guide is for maintaining wooden homewares, not restoring broken ones. We will provide a blog for restoring broken woods in the future. 

1. When washing kitchenware, ensure to use a light liquid detergent and wipe it dry after rinsing. 
2. Hampers, baskets, and home decor wooden items may need wiping off dust when needed. 
1. If there are spills (i.e. coffee, pop, oil, etc.), you may wipe them off with a damp cloth with a light detergent. After, you can do another round of wiping with just a damp cloth and wipe it dry.
3. Generally, wicker baskets and wooden acacia products are best placed in a dry place. 

For protecting your wooden products, it is best to wax them from time to time. The frequency will depend on the usage of a product. For example, plant pots (Plumara), since not used all the time and not constantly washed, may need waxing once a month. On the other hand, kitchenware such as salad bowls (Ormoc or Lobo) and plates (Sulu or Moro) that are constantly washed may need waxing once in two weeks. 

Waxing your wood is quite easy, simply:

1. Dry surface with a clean cloth
2. Using a cloth, apply ample wax on surface in a circular motion to ensure an even coat over the entire surface and into crevices and corners
3. Let it sit for 30-45 minutes (overnight for best protection and layer absorption)
4. After sitting, use a dry cloth to wipe off excess wax (no need to buff)

Waxing your wood ensures your wooden products will last many years longer than those that are not waxed regularly. Just like your skin, woods need conditioning and a bit of ‘moisturizer’ to strengthen wood fibre. It also provides added protective layerings, natural protection against bacteria, and restore natural wood luster.

Please note to get a wood wax that provides different layers of protection to your wood.  Some only have one ingredient (mineral oil) which wouldn’t be enough as it only conditions wood grains. In addition, a wood wax that is 100% food-grade would be ideal for all kitchenware.

Generally, maintaining wood is quite simplistic and doesn’t require an expensive or strenuous process. You just need to ensure you understand the best practices around it and let the quality of how it was created take care of the rest. Our woods are handcrafted by master artisans who have been creating wooden homewares for many decades and our woods are guaranteed to last for many decades to come.