Oak Furniture

[max26758]

I have several pieces of solid oak furniture in my living room and wondered if it should be treated with any special polish to prevent it from drying out and cracking ?

[The Builder]

I'm no furniture expert Max, but whenever I've made oak pieces for kitchens or stairs, I've just left it alone.
As with anything in the home, especially the structure, the most important thing is a reasonably consistent environment. Stable temperature/humidity, that sort of thing.

Good, seasoned joinery oak will be quite stable.

[Clanad]

Fact is (as Builder intimates) oak (or any other hardwood used for furniture making) is kiln dried before using. Additionally, it's sealed thoroughly with several coats of finish. All one is really accomplishing by polishing[i a finished piece is adding shine to the finish.

By the way, using raw coconut oil as a furnish polish is one the [i]10 Best Uses for Coconut Oil]? Seems the high fat content (that makes it inadvisable for consumption) does wonders for shining the furniture... The down stroke though, is dogs and cats love to lick the stuff!

Keep in mind though... if the furniture is eons old, the finish (especially older varnish type finishes) may have worn off... down to the bare wood, in which case the oiling and/or waxing would be helpful, but only until you can either get it refinished or do the job yourself...