Effective Ways to Clean and Maintain Secondhand Furniture

Have you recently found some nice chairs or a couch in a thrift shop? Or maybe your friend or a family member wanted to get rid of their old furniture, and you took the opportunity? Today, many people prefer getting affordable secondhand furniture instead of overpaying for a new one.

Secondhand doesn’t necessarily mean that the furniture has been poorly maintained. However, it is recommended to clean it properly before you bring it into your rented or new home. This is especially true for furniture that can gather dust and odor if stored in a poorly ventilated room. Here are some ways to clean and maintain secondhand furniture.

The Benefits of Natural Cleaning Products

The products you use for cleaning the furniture are quite important. Applying harsh chemicals to your furniture can stain or damage it. Natural cleaning products are safer to use around children because they aren’t as harmful as store-bought products that contain different chemicals. They are also quite affordable and easy to find. Here are three examples of great and easy-to-acquire natural cleaning products.

Vinegar

Vinegar is one of the most effective ways to clean and maintain secondhand furniture. It is excellent for stain removal and overall disinfection and doesn’t leave any odor. It can be used on a wide variety of furniture and is quite affordable and easy to find in stores.

Lemon Juice

Lemon juice is another excellent natural disinfectant and stain remover. Mixed with water, you can use lemon juice to remove microorganisms hazardous to your health, such as mildew and bacteria. As a bonus, it leaves a pleasant and refreshing scent on your furniture.

Baking Soda

Baking soda is used on many items, not just furniture. It is an excellent odor remover and is relatively easy to use. On furniture, you can also use it to absorb any moisture from it if you accidentally spill water or other liquid on it.

Removing the odor

Depending on where the furniture is kept, it can pick up a lot of odor. The seller from whom you got your secondhand furniture might have held their stock in a damp or musty room. That is why Movers and packers advise always keeping furniture in a well-ventilated room or storage unit.

Baking soda is one of the most common ways to get rid of odor in your furniture. For soft surfaces, such as cushions and rugs, rub the baking soda into the fabric and leave it for a few hours. After that, you can vacuum it out. 

For hard-surfaced furniture, such as wooden tables and chairs, spread the baking soda on top of it and then wipe it away with a cloth damp with a mixture of water and vinegar.

Cleaning wooden furniture

So, you came across wooden chairs or a large wooden dining table at the thrift shop. You decided on hiring furniture movers and got experts to handle the heavy lifting for you, but now what? The first thing you should do after acquiring any secondhand piece of furniture is to disinfect it properly. You don’t know in what conditions the furniture has been kept and for how long. It might have gathered bacteria that could cause you health issues. This is why disinfection is so essential.

This is relatively easy with wooden furniture in most cases. Wipe it for deep clean with a disinfectant and a cloth. Using hot water, white vinegar, and dish soap, you can also make your cleaning solution. Finally, use disinfectant wipes on the furniture to finish the disinfection. 

If you’re using a store-bought disinfectant, make sure it doesn’t have any bleach. The same goes for disinfectant wipes. Bleach can damage the wood. If unsure, test your wipes or the disinfectant on a small out-of-sight spot on the furniture. You should disinfect your wooden surfaces regularly to keep them bacteria-free.

Cleaning leather furniture

Leather furniture is a bit more demanding for maintenance. Natural leather is quite easily affected by the environment and the temperature of the area it’s in. Hence maintaining leather furniture will take more than just cleaning it with a wet cloth from time to time.

Removing stains from leather furniture is generally that simple, however. In most cases, you can just use a wet cloth. Create a half-and-half mix of vinegar and water and soak the cloth in it. However, make sure the cloth isn’t too damp because it can soak the leather itself.

If the secondhand leather furniture you just got is white or some other light color, the chances are there will be a few dark stains on it. For light-colored leather furniture, lemon juice is a great and natural way to clean dark stains. Mix lemon juice with a bit of cream of tartar and apply the mixture on the stains. After letting it dry for about 10 minutes, apply another layer of the mixture. Finally, wipe it clean with a damp sponge or a cloth.

The most important thing to remember is to never let your leather furniture dry in the sun. The sun can overdry the leather and cause cracks in it. This is why you should always use a cloth or gently blow-dry it.

Final thoughts

Thrift shopping can be very exciting because you never know what fantastic secondhand items you can find. However, everything you buy should be adequately cleaned and disinfected before putting it in your home. The furniture might have picked up odor from the room they stored it in, and we have discussed some means of getting rid of it. 

It is also not uncommon to encounter stains on secondhand furniture. Depending on the source of the stain, you can remove it quite easily with the right items. These were some of the most effective ways to clean and maintain secondhand furniture.