How To Move Antique Furniture The Modern Way

Do you like riddles?

If you do, here’s a fairly challenging riddle for you: what has served you stoically in your home in both favorable and unfavorable climatic conditions without a single complaint, and what has watched over your private life silently, only giving you sporadic invaluable pieces of advice in the form of occasional creaking sounds?

And before you are too quick to guess it all wrong, just search your feelings to find the right answer. Could the correct answer be perhaps… the furniture you own? The truth is that you may have never thought of your pieces of furniture as your friends, but that’s exactly what they are. Good friends at that, especially any antique furniture pieces you own.

And one thing is clear – regardless of how you view the furniture objects around you, you surely don’t want to see any of them broken or damaged beyond repair during a highly transitional period in your life, like a house move. Interestingly, while moving to another home was probably not what you wished for the last time you blew out the candles on the birthday cake, residential relocation may be exactly the thing that’s on your mind right now.

It’s great that you’ve found this antique furniture guide, for in it you will learn:

• why fragile and expensive is a tricky combination to have during a house move;

• what steps to take to best protect your antique furniture before, during and after a house move;

• why moving companies specializing in antiques are your safest bet to transport your valuable pieces without any accidents along the road;

• how to pack antiques for moving the right way so that they arrive in your new home exactly the way they left your old residence;

• under what circumstances it’s okay to move antique furniture by yourself, and more importantly – how to move antique furniture on your own;

• how to care for and preserve your antique wooden furniture after the relocation is over.

And above all, you will read expert tips for moving antique furniture by professional antique furniture movers, experienced antique dealers, and skilled antique furniture restorers.

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♣ ♣ ♣ Table of Contents ♣ ♣ ♣

• Chapter 1: How to prepare your antique furniture for moving
  • Step 1: Inventory your antique furniture
  • Step 2: Moving antique furniture vs selling furniture for cash
  • Step 3: Get your antique furniture appraised
  • Step 4: Purchase proper insurance coverage
  • Step 5: Take a closer look at your furniture
• Chapter 2: Antique furniture moving companies
  • Why trust professional antique furniture movers?
  • The best moving company for antiques
• Chapter 3: How to pack antiques by yourself
  • Pre-packing antique furniture preparation
  • How to wrap and protect wood furniture when you move
    • Layer 1: Initial protection
    • Layer 2: Shock protection
    • Layer 3: Hard outer protection
• Chapter 4: How to move antique furniture by yourself
• Chapter 5: After the move: What to do with your antique furniture?
  • Antique furniture care and preservation
  • How to clean antique furniture
  • How to restore antique furniture

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How to prepare your antique furniture for moving

Moving antique furniture cross country is a specialized moving job that is difficult to be compared to relocating any other type of household goods. In some ways, it resembles the professional expertise and specialist equipment needed for relocating highly specialized objects such as pianos, pool tables, and wine collections. The major problem with moving such uniquely categorized items is the increased risks of damage during the move itself – costly and upsetting damage that can sharply diminish their value even though that harm can sometimes be repaired and their condition restored to their former self.

Yes, it goes without saying that your prized antique furniture requires a delicate touch and ultimate protection throughout the moving process. Sam Williamson from Fife Man Removals (a UK based moving company) stresses out the importance of the preparation period when moving antiques across country. “Unfortunately, it’s notoriously difficult to prepare antiques for a move, as they tend to require much more preparation than normal household items. Any item that is being moved to another home should be treated with the utmost care, but this is especially true for antiques. Most household items can be easily replaced if they are broken or damaged during a move, but often no amount of money can replace the sentimental value that antiques hold. For this reason, it’s crucial that every effort is made to ensure their safety during a move.”

And knowing that moving antique wooden furniture is something totally different than shipping your book collection, for example, here’s what you need to do before moving antique furniture across country:

Step 1: Inventory your antique furniture

As an antique furniture owner who’s facing an imminent house move, the very first thing you need to do is to complete a detailed inventory of all the antique furniture pieces you have in your home. In addition to that, you are also recommended to inventory all your non-antique furniture that will require special packing and handling for various reasons like sentimental value, fragility, aesthetic appeal, etc.

As you go from room to room, do note down any existing damage on each furniture piece as such defects can easily jeopardize the structural integrity of the old unit itself. While making a detailed list of your antique objects, remember to take plenty of clear, high-resolution photographs of each furniture piece. Photograph these special possessions of yours from all sides and angles, concentrating on pre-existing defects, weakened sections, or extra fragile parts. A video inventory made possible by a dedicated video camera, a still camera, or a smartphone is also a good option to document the pre-move condition of your antiques.

But why do you need photos of your antique furniture prior to Moving day?

Hannah Crouthamel from The Farm Antiques kindly explains, “Photographs help, both for insurance and for your memory.  If you can’t photograph each item, then photograph each room, so you have a memory jog of what you did actually have in what room. A few photos of each room will suffice. A proper moving company will have a total list of items that you are shipping, but if you are doing it yourself or have less than professional people moving (which I do not recommend), this will give you at least a starting point if claims are needed against a moving company.”

Step 2: Moving antique furniture vs selling furniture for cash

After you’re done inventorying your furniture, the next step is to actually decide whether all of the pieces you own are worth the expenses, time, energy and genuine efforts to relocate them to your new home. Keep in mind that it can be extremely hard for you to make such an important decision under the circumstances as your valued antique furniture pieces are just that – valuable.

Our Used Furniture Guide will help you do what’s best for you and your antiques as it provides good advice on how to price your pieces, where to sell them, and most importantly – whether to part with them at all. And yet, refer to the next step before you reach your final decision.

Step 3: Get your antique furniture appraised

Now that Step 2 has given you “BEFORE” images of your antique furniture pieces (before they are packed safely, carried out of your home and loaded into the moving vehicle), you will have indisputable evidence of their pre-move condition in case you need to file a damage claim later. However, having the proof that your antiques have been damaged during transport won’t do you any good unless you have proper insurance coverage. And before you can insure your valuable possessions, you will need to have your antique furniture pieces appraised.

Remember that it’s fundamental to know just how much your antique furniture is worth prior to Moving day. Antique furniture appraisals are the first step towards ensuring the safety of your objects of extraordinary monetary or sentimental value (high value articles). In some cases, you may need to obtain more than one appraisal as verification of the value of your antiques, especially if you own pieces that are considered priceless.

To find a perfectly qualified person for that job, you should ask your insurance agent/company, or trustworthy authorized antiques dealers about recommendations for licensed antique furniture appraisers in your area. Also, you can contact the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) for assistance or use the search engine on their website to locate a person with the appraisal expertise you need. For your information, the majority of appraisers charge either a flat fee or an hourly rate for their services, so you should ask in advance how you will be charged.

Step 4: Purchase proper insurance coverage

Without a doubt, this Step 4 is considered to be the most important pre-move task you just have to do to protect your antique wooden furniture friends. There are those people who prefer to “save” money by not purchasing proper insurance for their valuable antiques when the latter are being moved to another house or apartment. However, be mindful that that risk is (almost) never worth taking. Even if the worst happens (yes, it’s been known to happen!), you will be able to recover the value of your expensive antiques.

With adequate coverage, you will be able to recover the value of your prized possessions if the unthinkable happens. The saying It’s better to be safe than sorry has never been truer than when moving antiques across country. So, contact your insurance agent and discuss the best insurance options for your antique objects while they are in transit.

Antiques expert Hannah Crouthamel gives another valuable piece of advice, “If I had one thing to recommend above all others is to make sure your items are fully insured when in transit. Do not take what the movers typically want to sell you, which is insurance by the pound, which can net you close to zip on delicate tables and fine china. Talk to your insurance agent about options for insurance while in transit. Talk to your moving company and see if they have full insurance available and how much it will cost; compare it to what your insurance agent might be able to do for you. If you already have a fine arts policy, your items will PROBABLY, but not necessarily be covered in transit; check with your agent.”

Step 5: Take a closer look at your furniture

By now, you have covered 3 very important tasks of preparing your antiques for safe transportation – inventory, appraisal and insurance. The next preparation step is a bit different as it preludes the tough and time-consuming process of packing antique wood furniture. The idea here is to take a closer look at each furniture unit in order to identify its move related weaknesses, recognize the potential risks while it is being moved, and think of an appropriate way to protect and care for that antique furniture piece. That initial survey should let you assess its construction /main frame, top section, legs or feet/ and its current condition /pre-existing damage like cracks, loose joints, and so on/.

• Size does matter. Before the moving action starts, you need to be sure that your pieces of antique furniture will comfortably fit through the doors and doorframes of both your old and new home. Even if you do the sensible thing and hire antiques moving services /the recommended approach/, it’s still necessary that you measure the dimensions of your pieces and the dimensions of your doorways to ensure that the fragile antique furniture will be safely maneuvered through and around tight spots, and even down along tricky stairs.

• Preliminary floor plan. Careful planning is important because it will enable you to control each step of the relocation process. And in order to make the antique furniture relocation a step safer and faster, you can choose to create a floor plan of your new home. By having a preliminary floor plan, you won’t have to be forced to move a piece more than once, which in turn will minimize the chances of accidents. Additionally, by knowing the exact sizes and shapes of your valuable pieces, you will easily know where to arrange your antique furniture in a convenient, stylish, and most of all – safe way.

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  Temperature and humidity. Depending on the specific type of wood used in your antique wood furniture, temperature extremes and excess of moisture might ruin the delicate finishes of some of your pieces. To avoid structural damage of any kind to your prized household items, the temperature and humidity levels at your new home should be roughly the same to the ones at your soon-to-be old residence. To test your home’s humidity levels, purchase a hygrometer or an indoor humidity monitor. In any case, if you’re moving to a place with much more colder/warmer and wetter/dryer climatic conditions, seek advice from a licensed antique dealer or an antique furniture moving company about the best way to care for and preserve your really expensive possessions after the move is over and done with.

• Identification of problem spots. Inspect your antique objects very closely with the purpose of identifying potential spots or sections that could prove to be rather problematic come Moving day. Look for any loose shelves, interior parts and non-secured pieces made of glass (especially glass doors). Try to identify structural elements that have been weakened with time and need special attention during the packing process. Mark these extra fragile parts in the inventory sheet and remember to let the specialty movers know about them before the actual relocation has taken place. In fact, you should keep the communication channel with your moving company well open throughout the moving adventure – share with the pros any piece of information that you think can help them avoid running into any troubles.

Anne Postic, an editor and contributor to Mortgages.com, advises, “Give yourself more time than you would for an average move. Plan ahead. Empty out any drawers, clean the furniture before you head to the new location, and decide where the items will go. Antiques can be weakened or damaged by moving, so you don’t want to have to move them twice. Let your movers know if they’ll be going up stairs or moving something into a tight spot, so they can be prepared.”

Antique furniture moving companies

Be mindful that it’s absolutely essential that you choose what’s best for your antiques from the very beginning. Most objects of extreme value do require professional examination so that the best packing and relocation method can be determined. For example, unless you have considerable experience and skills as a carpenter, you won’t be able to build custom protective cases around your antiques. Certainly, you want the best protection possible for your valuables, and that ultimate protection will come from 1) proper ways of packing up your expensive furniture and 2) correct ways of moving the antique pieces to their destination.

The challenge of moving antique objects must never be underestimated. The best way to guarantee that your expensive furniture will arrive in the same condition it has left your current home is to trust a top rated furniture moving company. The risks of moving antique furniture on your own (explained later in the article) are simply too great and in most cases will not justify any potential damage that your pieces might sustain during transit.

Why trust professional antique furniture movers?

• Experience. Movers specializing in antiques are experienced enough to take care of your priceless antique furniture for you as they know just what to do in most move related situations. Relocation experience plays a major role for providing a high level of overall moving day safety both for people and property alike. In addition to the rigorous training most of the pros have undergone, their daily encounter with house moving challenges of different types has taught them clever safety tricks and smart speed-boosting tips that non-professionals have no way of knowing.

• Speed. The speed with which your antiques will be packed and moved is another factor that favors the decision to hire professional packing and moving services. When relocating from one home to another, time, or rather its lack, often proves to be a force to be reckoned with. Therefore, if you’re trying desperately to fit into a tight time window, having a professional relocation partner by your side is the preferred way to go.

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  Safety. Of course, the thing that matters the most when moving antique furniture to another part of the country is safety. To guarantee that your valuable belongings survive the house move in perfect condition, the professional packers and movers you hire will 1) arrive with high quality packing supplies of the required quantity such as stretch tape, moving blankets, furniture pads, etc. 2) will bring the appropriate antique furniture moving equipment such as hand trucks, dollies, moving straps, etc., and 3) have the physical strength to handle heavy furniture pieces, thus minimizing any chances for untimely damage.

READ ALSO: Top 6 reasons to hire a moving company

The best moving company for antiques

Antique furniture expert Hannah Crouthamel advises, “Do not use a mover who has not moved fine furniture before.  There is an art to packing fine furniture so it will travel well and you don’t want your mover learning on your dime.”

Anne Postic also stresses out the importance of using the professional services of a proper moving company. “If you decide to hire someone, make sure they understand the nature of the items you’ll be moving, so they can send the appropriate staff and equipment. You or your movers should have padded blankets, as well as cords to secure more fragile items in the truck or van. “

Thea Villasenor from Thea’s Vintage Living is also in favor of asking your future movers all the hard questions. “If you are using a professional mover to move your antiques, ask them lots of questions like: Is your piece going to be blanket wrapped, crated or just placed on a pallet? Doors need to be removed from pieces or is a third party picking up your items?  Ask about pricing, so many places have additional charges to carry your items in the house or use a lift on their truck.”

Refer to our detailed Cross Country Movers Guide to find out how much long distance moving companies cost, including sample costs of moving across the country. Also, the guide will show you how to select a trustworthy mover for transporting antique furniture, including what questions to ask your future cross country relocation partner, and how to stay away from dishonest moving professionals.

Experienced professionals can provide an exceptional level of care for your antique furniture but your role in the relocation process is also important – you need to make sure that things go as smoothly as they can ever go. The three major steps to ensuring the safety of your prized possessions are:

• Read customer reviews about the movers, ask for references and request proof of the company’s experience in moving antiques, collectibles and fine art;

• Arrange a meeting with a representative from the antique furniture moving company you have chosen to discuss the details of your relocation;

• Ask for an antique moving estimate and pay special attention to the additional services requested or required to complete the delicate job.

How to pack antiques by yourself

The very first thing you should know is that you are not advised to pack and move your antique furniture pieces by yourself. In fact, professional packing and moving services are recommended even for ordinary non-antique household furniture with no extraordinary monetary or sentimental value. For all the valid reasons mentioned and discussed above, you should leave your treasures to the people who know exactly what they are doing.

However, for reasons that we cannot possible foresee or predict, you might choose to pack and move your antiques on your own. While looking at your wooden pieces through the eyes of a person who’s chosen to move them without professional assistance, you will realize that antique furniture is rather complicated to pack and move due to its big size, weight, excessive fragility, and most importantly – extreme value. Moreover, if your new home is located not hundred but thousands of miles away, then packing your antique wood furniture safely becomes an even bigger challenge thanks to the great distance it will need to endure.

According to the furniture experts from the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, the best antique furniture packing is reached through 3 layers of protection. But before describing in detail the multi-layered packing method, let’s mention a few preliminary steps you need to take to get your antiques completely ready to be packed up in the safest manner possible.

Pre-packing antique furniture preparation

• In order to make your expensive furniture lighter and thus less susceptible to damage during the house move, you need to take out all its contents so that the pieces are easier and much safer to carry and transport. Any additional weight of the antique objects will only complicate things but it could compromise the safety of the entire operation. Remember: empty your furniture and whenever possible, remove safely any detachable elements such as doors, door knobs, legs, and so on.

• Secure any loose components of your furniture pieces so that they don’t accidentally open during transit and cause all kinds of problems. For example, lock doors, if possible, or secure them well. This is an essential step, so don’t be too quick to skip it.

• Place pillows or blankets inside antique cabinets with glass doors to support the glass panels and eliminate possible shocks or vibrations on the road.

• Do not use tape directly onto the delicate finishes of your antique pieces! If you do, the standard tape can leave sticky marks on the finish and ruin it. How to prevent sticky tape marks? Professional packers use special-purpose shrink wrap to protect and immobilize furniture items. Also, you can wrap your pieces in moving blankets and then use strong cord or rope over the protective blankets to keep them in place.

How to wrap and protect wood furniture when you move

Now that your antiques are ready to be packed up, it’s time to use the proven 3-layer antique furniture packing and protection method to make sure your pieces are as protected for the relocation trip ahead as they can ever be.

Layer 1: Initial protection

Most antique furniture pieces have relatively fragile surfaces which may be ruined in the blink of an eye. The main purpose of this initial protective layer is to safeguard those extremely delicate finishes from scratches, loss of paint, dust, dirt, or even moisture. Avoid using flannel-like fabrics or other soft cloths /cotton, for example/ because they tend to accumulate dirt, which in turn could prove to be abrasive or might be pressed down into the surface. The best two materials to serve as a first defensive layer are thin sheets of plastic wrap and extra soft packing white paper.

However, keep in mind that when protecting delicate finishes of wooden antique furniture, it’s best to place the soft paper first and then use the thin plastic wrap on top of it. This is so because wood is an organic material and most types of wood furniture need to breathe – therefore, placing plastic directly onto it stops the air supply and may form moisture, which subsequently might ruin the finish altogether.

Layer 2: Shock protection

It’s unavoidable – your furniture will be subjected to irregular vibrations when it’s being transported inside the moving vehicle. In reality, this entire second layer will serve as a giant cushion to absorb the little impacts and shocks along the relocation journey.

Therefore, the second protective material should have a shock absorbing and cushioning effect, and while some form of foam or rubber will provide the ultimate antique furniture protection, thick moving blankets will do just fine. Purchase these protective blankets from a local moving company, then place them carefully over the antique pieces, secure them well with the help of packing tape, or pieces of strong cord or rope. Feel free to use more than one fastening/securing method at the same time for extra measure.

Layer 3: Hard outer protection

In the best case scenario, this final protective layer will be a custom crate made of plywood and made to measure to fit your antique furniture. That hard shell can be waterproof as well, if needed.

However, if you choose to pack and possibly move your antiques without professional help, the chances are that you won’t be able to construct such crates by yourself. What you can do instead is measure the outer dimensions of each piece and cut out corresponding sheets of the thickest cardboard you can find from no longer usable packing boxes, for example.

Then, you wrap those pieces tightly around the furniture object of great value and secure them well with tape. Although not as protective and durable as a custom-made plywood crate, an outer shell of thick cardboard is still a good option, especially when you’re moving locally – within the same city or to another city within the same state that is located less than 100 miles away.

MUST READ: How to pack furniture for moving

Antique furniture specialist Thea Villasenor summarizes: “When moving antique furniture, it is important to secure any parts that can break such as legs, and doors. Some doors on furniture should be removed and wrapped separately, some can stay on the furniture but need to be secured. When moving a table, it is best to lay it on its top so its legs are sticking up. Secure doors with plastic wrap not masking tape. Blanket-wrap your piece and use packing tape or plastic wrap to secure it.“

How to move antique furniture by yourself

If you haven’t realized it by now, moving antique furniture is no child’s play. It cannot possibly be compared to the logistical and security challenge of moving the Vatican Library, for example, but still, the importance of hiring the services of top rated moving companies that move antiques can’t be stressed enough. Even if you have decided to go ahead and pack up your antique furniture on your own, the actual transportation process is something entirely different. Be mindful that one wrong step, literally or figuratively speaking, can damage an expensive antique piece forever. And as mentioned earlier, possible damage to an exquisite piece of furniture may not only cost a fortune to repair and restore, but the value of the antique object can be steeply diminished.

If, against all odds, you still choose to take the unjustifiable risk to move antique furniture on your own, then we can offer you some solid advice on how to keep your valuable (or even priceless!) possessions safe, and yourself – injure-free.

Note down the following useful tips for moving antique furniture by yourself:

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  Tip #1: The most essential guiding principle when moving antique furniture is to take extra care at all times. It’s a fact that the number one cause for antique furniture damage is carelessness and haste. Serious damage can be easily avoided if you just slow down the process, think through each of your steps, and make a genuine effort to be more careful.

• Tip #2: You cannot possibly do this hard task all by yourself. Reach out to good friends you can trust and don’t initiate any moving operations until there’s at least 4 of you on site. Here you will learn the best way to ask your friends to help you move presented in the form of an entertaining game.

• Tip #3: Your personal preparation is vital. Take your time to inspect the paths out of your home all the way to the moving vehicle and make sure the way out is clear of obstacles, dust, water, ice, debris or anything that can endanger the safety of the entire job.

• Tip #4: Make sure you and your friends are exactly on the same page – go over the entire plan multiple times, visualize how you will lift, carry and navigate the antique furniture pieces as you walk through your home. If you’re moving your antiques down the stairs, it’s a good idea to count the steps, and then have the person in front count them out loud as you’re all carrying the antique object. If possible, appoint a spotter – a person who will shout out or signal to the rest of you whenever there’s a danger ahead or an abrupt change of the moving situation.

• Tip #5: To make sure no accidents or injuries occur while lifting and carrying your antique furniture, it’s vital that you use proper lifting techniques. You and your friends will be subjected to a score of unusual body movements, which combined with the unavoidable physical strain, could lead to minor or even major injuries. How to lift and carry antique furniture? To keep things running smoothly, refer to our detailed Moving Safety Guide where you will find the proper lifting techniques you must use throughout the house move.

• Tip #6: Whenever needed, use appropriate moving equipment which you can rent from a local moving company. An appliance dolly is an excellent movers’ tool that will make things so much easier and safer for you. Be extremely careful when placing any antique furniture pieces on the wheeled helper, as well as when you’re wheeling them out of your home. Once safely protected, your furniture should be secured exceedingly well onto the dolly to avoid possible slip-offs and consequent heart-breaking damage.

• Tip #7: Check whether you are dressed appropriately for the occasion. Select flexible clothes made of breathable fabric. Have your most comfortable pair of enclosed shoes that protect your feet, have decent ankle protection, and provide the traction you need (anti-slip soles). Of course, you must wear a good quality work gloves to protect your hands and fingers, and to obtain the best grip possible.

• Tip #8: Whatever you do, do not drag antique furniture along the floor even if the piece is equipped with casters because furniture casters usually serve as decoration. Instead, lift the antique object with your hand underneath while at the same time striving to distribute the entire piece weight evenly among the people handling it at the moment. In fact, unless you wish to see your pieces ruined (legs, support frame, casters, etc.) and your floor damaged (scratches, bumps, dents, etc.), dragging furniture on floors must be avoided at all costs even if the pieces are not valuable in any way.

• Tip #9: Remember the basic safety rule that no part of antique furniture should be moved around by taking hold of and actually lifting attached elements such as arms, rails, or wings. Keep in mind that in most cases the furniture element that is designed to withstand upward forces is the underneath frame.

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  Tip #10: Be extremely careful when loading antique furniture into a pickup truck or a rented moving vehicle. In reality, this is the one moving operation which often shows the vast difference between experienced professional movers and amateur home movers. There are 3 major rules here: 1) Slow down!, 2) make sure your antiques do not come into contact with other household items, and 3) secure the furniture pieces well with ropes or straps so that they won’t move during the cross country relocation trip.

• Tip #11: How to store antique furniture? If you plan to place antique furniture into storage, then you should only consider short-term climate controlled storage to avoid the harmful effects that prolonged storing periods can have upon delicate wood furniture.

READ ALSO: Tips for moving furniture across country

Anne Postic is ready with some invaluable antique storage tips, “If you’re moving antiques to a storage unit, find out if you’ll need one that’s climate controlled. For wooden and textile objects, you probably will. It can cost more, but will be worth it to avoid damage. If you plan to store the items indefinitely, that can get really expensive. If you can’t use the things you want to store, consider selling them or, if the sentimental value is too great, letting another family member use them until you’re ready.”

After the move: What to do with your antique furniture?

Arguably, the toughest leg of your antique furniture relocation is now over. However, you shouldn’t let your guard down, not even for a second, for protecting and caring for antique furniture comes next in your calendar.

Antique furniture care and preservation

If you have used the transportation services of an antique furniture moving company, then don’t forget to check the home inventory the moment your antiques are delivered to your new home. Your hired professionals should be responsible for actually carrying the furniture pieces inside and placing them on their pre-designated spots. Reassembly or special servicing may be required in some cases to complete the relocation job.

What you should do next is to survey the freshly delivered antique objects for possible signs of damage during the transportation. If you do detect any troubling signs, contact your specialty movers and your insurance company right away for assistance on what to do next, including how to file a damage claim.

On the other hand, if you have managed to complete this antique furniture moving feat without professional help, then follow the advice to bring your furniture pieces inside your home last in order to avoid potentially dangerous contact with other items which are being carried inside later. Thus said, leave enough room for safe navigation inside your new residence but also choose appropriate spots for your furniture. Keep in mind that direct sunlight can fade away delicate wood or extra delicate finishes, while extreme heat or cold, as well as moisture, can turn out to be the arch-enemies of your valuable possessions.

How to clean antique furniture

It’s very important to know how to clean antique furniture, especially when you find yourself in your new home. You need a regular cleaning and maintenance schedule to avoid long-term accumulation of dust and dirt that can end up damaging your favorite antique friends. Remember that proper cleaning is key!

• Dust on a regular basis. You need to dust your pieces fairly regularly in order to preserve them in great condition for years to come. Use a soft and dry piece of cloth to remove any dust or dirt from your valuable furniture. Avoid using feather dusters and sponges which can easily prove to be too abrasive for the delicate surface of your antique objects.

• Clean antique furniture on a weekly basis. At least once a week, take a lint-free cloth, dampen it with an appropriate antique furniture cleaner and remove any grease or grime from the sensitive wood surfaces. Consult your trusted antique stores on what cleaning products are most suitable for your specific type of furniture.

Antique furniture expert Hannah Crouthamel gives her final piece of advice, “Furniture restoration is a whole topic unto itself, again more of an art than a science. We recommend any good paste wax (never use spray polishes as they generally have silicone in them which will over time cause crackling of finishes)—Johnson’s Paste Wax is readily available, ditto Butcher’s Paste Wax. Many antique stores sell specialty waxes which are also excellent, Harrall’s, Brie Wax, etc.”

To learn more how to protect wood furniture from scratches, sun damage and heat, moisture and mold, water stains, and ultimately how to care for antique wooden furniture, make sure you take a look at this ultra-practical Guide For Protecting Wood Furniture From Damage.

How to restore antique furniture

Should you ever find that any of your antique furniture pieces is in need of repairs or restoration after the residential move, then it’s useful to understand that you probably won’t have the professional skills and expertise to do it on your own. Antique furniture restoration is a highly specialized service provided by trained and experienced professionals who are well familiar with all available antique furniture restoration techniques. The sensible thing under the circumstances is to turn to qualified restorers as any attempts to repair most types of damage by yourself, like you would do on a modern piece of furniture, can lower the overall value of your antiques. Still, if you prefer to give this hard task a try, check out these carefully selected antique furniture restoration tips.