Elula Furniture Care Instructions
Our furniture is an investment expected to last for generations. To maintain its beauty and help it last, our furniture needs the right care.
All our products are finished with environmentally friendly water-based products. The sheen of the finish ranges, depending on the piece. The finish protects the wood and adds to its beauty.
No finish is totally indestructible. But with regular care, the finish will last much longer, providing years of enjoyment to you.
To care and protect your Elula Furniture pieces we recommend the following:
1. Avoid placing your furniture in direct sunlight, as sunlight causes fading/discolouring.
2. Avoid extreme changes in temperature by arranging furniture away from radiators, heat and air vents and air conditioning units.
3. Avoid placing plastic or rubber materials directly on your furniture, as certain plastics/rubbers contain ingredients that may damage the finish.
4. Periodically rotate accessories on furniture so they do not sit in the same spot all the time.
5. Use pads, cloth or felt to protect the furniture surface from plastic, rubber, hot dishes, beverages, bookends, flowerpots and vases.
6. Clean up spills immediately. Use a blotting rather than a wiping action. Water left over a long period of time will cause spots in the finish. Alcohol, perfume, after-shave, red wine and medications can cause severe finish damage.
7. Use a protective pad when writing with a ballpoint pen on the furniture surface.
8. Lift and place objects rather than dragging them across the furniture surface.
9. Avoid placing furniture directly under windows which attracts direct sunlight.
Fabric Care
Cleaning your fabric products.
Do not spot clean using water or any type of liquid cleaner – rather use a spoon to scoop up solid mess and dab any liquid spills with a dry paper towel. Professional steam cleaning is also extremely effective on all fully upholstered couches.
Scotchgaurd Fabric Protector
We strongly recommend that you have fabric protection applied to both slipcover and fully upholstered furniture. Scotchguard Fabric Protection is a specially formulated product that prevents liquid spills from penetrating beyond the fabric’s surface. If liquid is spilt on the couch, the fabric protection's chemicals will turn it into a bubble on the surface which can then be easily removed. If your couch doesn’t have fabric protection, spills will be quickly absorbed into the fabric, possibly resulting in a permanent stain.
Cleaning liquid spills
If you have Scotchgaurd fabric protection, a bubble will form on the fabric’s surface where the spill occurred. Follow these steps to prevent staining:
- Take a paper towel and lightly dab the bubble to absorb it.
- In the case of a food spill, simply scoop it up with a metal spoon and then dab the surface with a paper towel.
- For mud or soil messes, allow them to dry and then vacuum it away.For slipcover couches, leave the cover on the couch until the next time you wash all the removable covers.
Cleaning and Polishing
We recommend dusting frequently with a clean, soft, dry, lint-free cloth.
To clean the our hand painted/laminate surfaces: Use a clean, soft, damp, lint-free cloth and rub in small circular motions.
To clean the our Birch Ply surfaces: Use a clean, soft, dry, lint-free cloth and rub in the direction of the wood grain.
Furniture Care Products
There are three basic types of furniture care products: Silicone cleaners, waxes and polishes.
We recommend avoiding silicone cleaners and waxes. While silicone cleaners create a high degree of shine, silicone seeps into even the highest-quality finishes, creating a barrier that will not accept stain or lacquer. This makes it virtually impossible to re-finish or touch-up your furniture.Waxes should be avoided because their regular use may result in a build-up of wax film on the surface of the furniture. This build-up could actually attract dirt, smoke and other pollutants in the air, resulting in smudges and streaks. Also, many waxes contain grit that can permanently damage furniture surfaces if used improperly.
Polishes, which we recommend for Birch Ply furniture only, contain detergents, emulsifiers and mineral oil. The detergents clean dirt from the furniture, the emulsifiers give it body to clean and last longer and the mineral oil is left behind as a barrier for dirt and moisture that could harm finishes. There's no grit to harm the finish, no wax to build up and no silicone to raise the sheen and act as a barrier for touch-up and refinishing.