Keep your furniture in good condition this monsoon

Here are some tips to protect your furniture with adequate care during the rains

As the heavy showers hit the city, everybody breathes a sigh of relief.It's just the perfect change people have been longing for to escape from the scorching sun. Rains not only bring beauty and greenery but a host of home problems to tend to as well. But if you follow a few simple steps, you can ensure that the monsoon doesn't spoil your beautifully decorated house especially the furniture.

LONG-LASTING FURNITURE

It takes a lot of effort to maintain and take care of furniture, whether period or contemporary. Whether it is wood, black metal, steel or mild steel, furniture needs to be protected.Weather changes and rough use cause wear and tear enough to make it look old prematurely. Only periodic dusting and once a week cleaning is not really adequate.

It is one thing to bring good furniture home and another to keep it looking good for years. Most people are careful about regularly cleaning their electrical appliances, especially refrigerators, and sending their cars for maintenance regularly. But they tend to neglect furniture. This too needs careful looking-after and luckily most of that can be done by you at home itself.Wood furniture is particularly, is vulnerable. Extremes of temperature and humidity are bad. An excess of humidity can make wood swell, while a low can make it shrink due to loss of moisture.

MOISTURE PROTECTION

During the monsoon season, keep your furniture away from windows, balcony doors and other damp spaces. Clean your furniture with a dry and soft cloth and avoid placing damp clothes or towels on your furniture. Ensure cross ventilation to keep the room dry and free of excess moisture. Keep your chest of drawers, wardrobes or bookshelves a few inches away from the walls if you have faced a leakage issue earlier or even otherwise.But do expose them to some light and heat at least, now and then. Keeping the house clean will help ensure that you have the right moisture level that's conducive to the wooden furniture in your house. Also, air conditioners can be of great help here since they can prevent rise of humidity levels by keeping the air in your home fresh and cool. Every furniture piece made with ply should be laminated especially the interior of the wardrobe. It pre vents termites and is also easy to maintain. Closed places like cabinets, cupboards, drawers are more likely to get damp with moisture as they remain closed most of the time. To protect your clothes and valuables kept inside the closet, place perfumed bath salts in the bottom of the cupboard.Last but the most important thing to be noted, do not renovate or colour your house during the monsoon. The showers might just spoil your newly done home.

CARPET CLEAR

Do not keep an expensive carpet in the living room during the monsoon. Ensure that it is rolled up and covered in a plastic sheet to avoid chances of moisture. During the monsoon, it is best to invest in a multicoloured acrylic washable carpet. Fine leather or composed leather works best during monsoon as they do not absorb water and are very low in maintenance.

RUST-FREE

In your outdoors, use of fabric like cushions should be to the minimum as these get faded when exposed even to indirect sunlight and humidity ruins them because of fungus formation. Paint chip offs in wrought iron are common.One can clean it and apply a fresh coat of paint once every year to retain the life of the furniture. As far as possible use stone artifacts and decor items. Avoid using wood, papier mache or any copper items as these react with the atmosphere Treat your iron furniture with anti-rust once just before the monsoon sets in.This will also prevent it from decolourisation. Furniture in the garden needs special protection. Scrape off the moss as soon as it is formed to avoid damage.

Source : Times of India, Bangalore