Tips for Taking Care of Wood Slab Tables

Wood slab tables are a unique kind of furniture, and they take special love and maintenance to keep them looking as pristine and lovely as when you first brought them into your home or business. Here are a few tips for taking care of and getting any of the kinks out of your wood slab table.

Dusting Is Loving

Tiny little dust particles may seem like they’re no reason to be concerned, but once you get enough dust buildup, it can actually lead to scratches in the finish of your wood slab. It’s simple enough to dust it off once a week with a soft, lint-free cloth. Although spray dust polish may be tempting, you should avoid any products that contain silicones. They can soak into the wood and cause permanent damage. If you need that dampness, get just a little bit of water on your cleaning rag and use that instead.

Bust out the Mayo

Watermarks and table rings can be a bit overwhelming. The plus side is that these rings are usually formed in the wax of your table, not the actual wood. That means that you can scrub it with some mayonnaise, and it should lift the marks right out. That’s right! This fatty substance may not be your diet food of choice, but it can be your go-to solution for lifting water damage and table rings from the wood finish in your tabletop.

Placement Is Important

This is true from more than just an aesthetic perspective. Heat can be your slab table’s worst nightmare, so if you leave it too close to all that warmth for too long, it can cause your wood slab table some problems. Avoid placing your table too close to heaters or a fireplace. This rule applies to anything made of wood, really. Large swings in temperature from hot to cold can cause the splintering and warping of wood—which is the kind of irreversible damage that you want to do everything you can to avoid.

Humidity Hurts

It’s true for all the wood in your home, including floors, tables, and trim, that humidity can have an adverse effect on it. You’ll want to keep the humidity levels between 40 and 45 percent to keep it balanced enough for your table. Higher humidity causes the wood to swell and expand, and lower humidity causes it to splinter and crack. If your home seems to struggle with this, the simple solution to this problem is potentially using a humidifier in the winter, and an A/C or de-humidifier in the summer time.

Shine On

Just because you should avoid silicon wood products doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do things to help your wood slab table shine. Use hard carnauba wax instead, along with those soft, lint-free cloths that you use for dusting. This is when you’ll want to channel The Karate Kid. You should use one lint-free cloth to apply the wax, and a second to polish the surface where you applied the wax. Getting this job done takes some grit and elbow action, but the end results will leave you and your wood slab both satisfied.

Wood slab tables are more high maintenance than industrial, manufactured tabletops. Their irregularities give them so much more character, as well as a greater sensitivity to the elements. Wood slab tables are a great for rustic or eclectic home looks, and can add a touch of the natural world to the most industrialized room or home. That earthiness can add so much to a room.