Caring for Wood
Because of the warm, natural colour and feel, wood is a treasured material for decorative and functional objects.
In contrast to gold, wood can, however, decay under unfavourable circumstances,
but wood can last for centuries if they have been tended carefully.
There are some tips to keep old wood objects or furniture in the tip-top condition:
- Keep wood from extreme variations in humidity and temperature. In general, use room environment levels.
For an overseas purchase, exercise more care to acclimatize the wooden objects, especially from more humid countries to drier climates, and vice versa.
For Chinese furniture, keep humidity between 30-50% and a temperature of 10-26.5 degrees Celsius (50-80 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Keep wood out of direct sunlight that will dry out the object and damage its finish.
- Keep away from chemical sprays, spills, stains or serious scratches.
- Use a dry or slightly damp cloth to clean the wood, and use a soft brush on carved areas. The cloth should be soft enough to prevent scratch the finish. Do not use metal-cleaning chemicals to polish the metal ornaments on the wood; only dust them carefully,
- Use a paste wax to protect and nurture the wood. Do not over apply the wax in order to prevent a thick build up of wax. It needs time and gentle rubbing to show a glowing luster of patina on the wood. Use a high quality wax of Carnauba or beeswax. In North America, one can use the natural Minwax Paste Finishing Wax.
- Can try mayonnaise, a common salad dressing in North America, to
polish wood when you do not have time to get the proper wax. The vinegar and oil in mayonnaise can clean and temporarily restore the shine of the finish.
Fairy Rings in Lawns
Fairy rings can be considered a disease for a lawn. The rings are large circles of several feet of lush green grass that are darker and healthier than the surrounding grass outside the rings. The fairy rings usually start in late spring or mid-summer and grow to the start of winter; whence the rings are established, they will grow for one to several years.
There are no easy ways to get rid of the visible rings in the lawn, as the rings are caused by underground fungi deep in the soil that decompose dead organics to release nitrogen to the grass. It need to dig out feet of soils to remove the fungi and to backfill with clean soils. One less-expensive way is to water the lawn sufficiently and apply a general lawn fertilizer throughout the lawn, particularly on grass outside the rings. Aeration the lawn will help too. That way the ring will may blend into a lawn of uniformly dark colour. If not attended, the dark rings will naturally die out after the fungi outgrow the organics available in the soils, but a dry bare ring may appear.
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