Outdoor Patio Furniture

White cedar is a great wood for indoor and outdoor furniture, because of its natural and environmentally sound characteristics. Found in the Northeast and most known for its uses on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket, white cedar is highly durable and very sturdy. This wood species is also blessed with natural preservatives that make it one of the most decay/rot resistant and insect tolerant woods available. Whether you’re looking for rustic furniture, a cozy garden furniture setting or a grouping of Adirondack chairs to enjoy with close friends and family, white cedar could be for you.

Eastern white cedar has been used in Canada and the United States for over 100 years. The white cedar tree grows only in the northeastern United States and in southeastern Canada and is ideally suited to both indoor and outdoor projects. The eastern white cedar is also called northern white cedar, arborvitae and swamp cedar. Because it is often harvested from second and third growth forests, using strict sustainable management practices, eastern white cedar is not only a viable alternative, but also a better selection for your next outdoor wood project. Extremely resistant to decay, eastern white cedar furniture is a beautiful wood that accepts stain treatments well, or you can allow it to naturally weather to a fine gray patina.

Cedar is a dimensionally stable wood, especially when kiln-dried, meaning it lies flat and stays straight, resisting the natural tendency as with other wood species to crack, shrink or warp, providing a splinter resistant and extremely smooth finish. Cedar also takes a stain well (as we will discuss a bit later) and reveals a rich character when stained. Cedar is one of the top ten preferred species for the home woodworker, and ranks third behind oak and pine as the wood most commonly used for ready-to-finish furniture. Additionally, cedar is uncommonly smooth-surfaced when sanded, making it more comfortable for outdoor furniture than other woods.

White cedar is used in landscaping, fencing, shingles, decks, log homes and for outdoor furniture, where its natural oils deter pests and mold. Adding an extra layer of protection (either stains, paints or polyurethanes) to cedar is smart insurance against possible premature wear. If you want protection and prefer not to see your outdoor furniture’s grain, paints provide a layer of color that will keep the wood safely hidden from the elements.

Staining will impregnate your wooden outdoor furniture with chemicals that inhibit water, UV light and insect damage and add a layer of color to the surface of the wood. Whereas paint completely covers the wood, stains can leave the wood grain visible. Although not necessary, you may also desire to put a polyurethane finish on the furniture after it has been stained. Polyurethane behaves similarly to paint as it covers the wood. Some prefer to add this extra layer, although doing so can make reapplying a fresh coat of stain in the future more difficult.

When staining, if the outdoor furniture has been in use or outside for a period of time, it is best to lightly sand all surfaces before application using a Sand Sponge or sand paper. Try to stain the furniture when temperatures range from 50° to 85° F. Use a piece of similar wood or find an “out of the way” spot on the furniture to test the stain to ensure the wood is absorbing it to attain the desired color. Consider using a foam brush, staining the lower portions of the furniture first and working your way through the sides to the top.

White cedar is lightweight, very durable and extremely sturdy. The wood is prized for its ability to weather without treatment (unlike other species) and its ability to take finishes well. Because of this, northern white cedar is excellent for indoor, outdoor, and ground contact applications. With all of these benefits, it is easy to see why northern white cedar is considered the aristocrat of woods. It is a superior wood in its resistance to the elements and is considered one of the longest-lasting woods used in the lumbering industry today.

Ah technology. We live in an age where people carry around their entire CD collections in a device the size of a deck of cards, digitally record TV shows to be viewed at their convenience, and conduct business globally with a few keystrokes and mouse clicks. “What does this have to do with furniture?” you may be asking. Well, technology has changed the construction of furniture greatly over the last 20-30 years. Wood furniture used to be easily defined. If a piece of furniture was made of wood, there was no question it was solid wood or pieces of solid wood fashioned together to form a table or chair or chest of drawers.

Today, solid wood furniture is becoming increasingly hard to find and can be very expensive. Veneers and engineered woods have become the material of choice for most furniture manufacturers, with terms like ‘medium density fiberboard’ and ‘hardboard’ replacing oak, maple, and birch. The following will hopefully clear everything up and tell you just how your next furniture purchase was made.

A piece said to be made of solid wood generally means that all exposed parts are made of solid board. No veneers or particleboards are used. Solid board can always be identified by following a seam to the end, where you find the “end” grain. A lot of veneers are glued over the edges to look like solid wood, but they are usually faced on the end and show no end grain.

All-wood furniture is not necessarily solid wood. In most cases, this means that veneers are used to achieve the look of solid wood. A veneer is a very thin layer of wood often overlaid on plywood or particleboard. The best quality veneers use solid wood cores for added strength and shock absorption.

Particleboard is made from grinding wood into very small chips and particles that are bonded with synthetic resins under heat and pressure to form hard panels. The most common type of particleboard used in furniture manufacturing is medium density fiberboard, or MDF. Another type of particleboard you may encounter is hardboard, which has a greater density than MDF.

If there is one thing that everyone wants to have for summertime, it is outdoor furniture, and so of course you are going to have to know where the best places are that you can go to where you will be able to find high quality outdoor furniture at great prices. You are certainly lucky in this regards because there are many different options that you have in regards to where you can go to find outdoor furniture, and so you can certainly at least rest assured in the knowing of this.The Best Places That you can go to for Outdoor Furniture
If you are trying to find outdoor furniture then you surely already know about the multitude of options that are out there, and so no doubt you are weary and unsure of which one to choose. It is quite obvious as to how this can be so overwhelming, and so thus it is also very understandable as to why so many people get so frustrated simply trying to choose the company that they want to put their business in.

One of the best things that you can do in order to help yourself out here is to read reviews on the companies that you are deciding between, and so what you want to do here then is figure out what the best couple of furniture stores are that sell items for the outdoors, and then read reviews on these particular companies so that you can see what customers’ opinions are on the stores, and thus so that you can get an idea as to what one you think would be the best of all for you to go to.

Some people think that this is a waste of time or that it is unnecessary effort but really in the end you will be saving both time and money, as rather than going around from store to store you will be able to just go to the one store, and because you have already done your research on it, you will thus already know that it has the item(s) that you are looking for.
Once you realize that this effort will be well worth it in the end, it greatly eases the entire process overall, and so you can really relax and enjoy the shopping process rather than dreading it and being frustrated over it.

A room full of beautiful wood furniture brings warmth and elegance to any room, however, it’s inevitable that stains and mishaps will cause damage to your furniture. Maybe you wish to restore wood or wicker furniture to it’s former glory.Below are tips on cleaning and caring for your wood furniture to keep it looking beautiful for a long time.

Removing water stains on wood furniture – There are two way to remove a water stain from wood furniture. 1) lay a blotter cloth over the spot and run a warm iron over it until the stain is gone. 2) rub lemon oil into the spot, let set overnight, wipe the excess oil off.

Removing alcohol stains on wood furniture – any substance containing alcohol (drinks, medicines, cosmetics) can eat through wood finish quickly. When a spill occurs, grab a cloth and moisten it with lemon oil. Rub the spot with the cloth (if the spot is dry, remove with the same method as you wood a burn on wood).

Hide scratches on dark cherry or mahogany wood furniture – rub spot with a cotton swab dipped in iodine.

Hide scratches on unshellacked maple or light cherry wood furniture – rub spot with a cotton swab dipped in iodine diluted 50% with denatured alcohol.

Darken a scratch on wood furniture – scoop out the meat of a walnut and rub it gently on the scratch. Make sure you rub it directly on top of the scratch.

Remove scratches from oiled finishes on wood furniture – take fine steel wool and dip it into light mineral oil or boiled linseed oil. Rub in the direction of the grain. Let oil soak into wood, then wipe scratch area dry with a clean cloth.

Remove burns on wood furniture – obtain finely powdered pumice stone (check woodworking suppliers) and mix with linseed oil. Take a soft cloth and rub the burn, in the direction of the grain, with the paste. Keep repeating until burn spot disappears. This works best on light burns.

Remove glass rings from wood furniture – rub the rings with a mixture made of mayonnaise and white toothpaste. Wipe dry, then polish entire tabletop.

Remove spilled milk stains on wood furniture – dip a damp cloth in ammonia or silver polish and rub stain area. Wipe dry with clean cloth.

Cleaning leather furniture – wash furniture with a solution of 1/4 cup vinegar and a half cup of water. Next, wash furniture with saddle soap (available at shoe and hardware stores). Lastly, rub furniture briskly with a soft cloth.

Caring for wicker furniture – wicker tends to be dry and can get brittle or split. Place brittle wicker furniture inside a bathtub and drench with water to restore moisture. Keep wicker away from heated areas such as stove, radiator, and fireplace.

Furniture polish tips – 1) polish furniture often with a lint-free cloth moistened lightly with furniture polish. 2) use furniture polish sparingly. It’s the rubbing motion (or elbow grease) that is the real secret to maintaining a great shine. 3) stick with either an oil or wax based furniture polish. Using both on the same piece can cause smudges and blotches. 4) remove wax build up by moistening a soft cloth with synthetic turpentine, mineral spirits or liquid polish, and cleaning entire surface.