Caring for Your Grain Furniture

You know what’s important for beautiful furniture that will last you a lifetime? A bit of TLC every once in a while. Our products are all designed to be hard-wearing, but like all of us on the team, they need a bit of love now and again.

For something to be truly ‘sustainable’, it needs to be looked after. At Grain, we are very conscious of this; after all, we develop durable products to last lifetimes. One common misconception with furniture is that, once you buy it, it’s just a matter of time until it breaks, let that be a week, a month or in forty years. Whilst people may have become accustomed to brands that build for obsolescence, this is not true for Grain products.

However, one thing is for certain. If you don’t look after your belongings with the care they deserve, they will deteriorate, regardless of quality. The key to a sustainable home (and happy people!) is nurture and care.

Just like people’s teeth, cars or house plants, the highest quality of furniture can still deteriorate if it’s not looked after correctly. At Grain, we research and locate the best materials, for simple and easy maintenance, to ensure the longest life products.

The next stage is maintenance in the home, so we’ve made that as easy as possible too. Luckily, looking after our pieces doesn’t mean slaving away with beeswax, sanding paper or white vinegar. We’ve compiled a handy checklist to help you showcase their best side, every time.

Care

First and foremost, take care. Whether it be when receiving your furniture, assembling or moving it around, at no point should you need to put it in harm’s way. We’ve designed everything to simply come apart into separate components. This way it is always easy to move from A to B or put into storage safely.

• When assembling your furniture, build on top of the packaging it came in. This way, you can avoid anything that may leave a mark on your furniture.
• It is also very important to watch the assemble video when putting together your furniture. Making sure to follow it step by step. (As quick and simple as it may be, don’t rush it).
• Although we used the highest quality hardware, still take care when tightening bolts and fixtures. If anything starts to wear after time, we can send you a new replacement part and recycle the old one – so no need to persist with a sub-par or fatigued fixing!

So fresh and so clean, clean

This is simple but very important. All of our products use organic materials and friendly finishes. Because of this, when spillages occur, steer clear of toxic cleaning products like bleach or kitchen sprays. Using heavy chemicals on organic materials will simply erode away, causing more damage than good.

We use water-based finishes on all of our wooden components. This is safe for the maker, home life and the wood itself. Using solvent cleaners will strip away the protection and then kill off the natural protective oils that occur within the woods/Lino itself. All you really need is a cloth, and some warm water to clean your table.

However, in in cases of extreme spills that might need something a little more, you can use low PH cleaning product to add a little oomph.

Just like wood, lino is an organic material too. It’s made from ground linseed, minerals and natural linseed oils. Applying harsh chemicals will strip the protective qualities away. Lino is moisture and grease repellant (that’s why it was traditionally used as flooring), so all you need to do is wipe clean with warm water, and dry it off with a soft towel or microfiber cloth.

Caution

An obvious one is a caution. Be sure not to use hard or sharp tools on any furniture surfaces (that includes you, little ones!)

• Please keep dancing in heels and counting your hoards of diamonds to the minimum, on any work surfaces. (Even wooden floors).
• On a serious note… If you wouldn’t do it to a friends dining room table, then it’s probably best you treat your table with the same caution! It’s always better to be safe than sorry, even if the product is durable enough to handle it.
• Don’t leave anything wet on the surface of any item of furniture. If something spills, wipe it up as soon as you can. Watermarks can happen to any wooden finish, so be sure to use a coaster and dry spills right away. Lino is naturally water repellent, but it’s still best to dry it off, to keep it always looking tidy.
• If something does get damaged, it’s not the end of the world. Trust us, at Grain we understand these things happen! It’s best to get in touch right away so we can see what we can do, whether that’s sending you a replacement part, or giving advice.

The Grain team is constantly researching materials and is always available to offer support with any issues our customers may face. Let that be children going wild with the sharpie, damages or any maintenance questions you may have. We are always here to help you. If you follow these guidelines, your furniture will always stay in shape and keep looking new forever. If anything happens, just send us a DM, give us a ring or send us an email.

Sustainability is a group effort, and we will always play our part. We hope you will too ☺