Wooden Item Maintenance and Care Guide

Welcome to the LC Rustic Accents family! Thanks for purchasing one of our wooden items requiring some maintenance!

 

We hope that you love your item(s) and it lasts you for many years to come. To ensure that it does, here are a few things that you can do to care for and maintain your product: 

 

​Rattles

​These rattles have been sanded to a high grit, water-popped and smoothed out to make sure they are safe for your little one to use. The cold, hard wood used on them make the perfect teethers for your little ones! Since they're going to spend a lot of time in your little one's mouth, you need to make sure to maintenance them to keep them that way.

• Since your rattle is regularly being exposed to moisture from your baby's mouth, it needs to be protected to keep it from drying out and cracking. Once a month, your rattle needs to be conditioned. Our homemade Board Butter is the best tool for the job! Here’s how you do it. 

  • Apply our Board Butter generously on your rattle with a clean lint free cloth.

  • If you cannot use our board butter, you can use food grade mineral oil which you can generally find in the pharmacy section of your grocery store.

  • Lay the rattle out to dry for about 30 minutes so the wood has time to soak up the butter/oil.  

  • If the wood still appears dry, apply more butter/oil and wait 30 more minutes before continuing to the next step 

  • After 30 minutes is up, use a clean dry cloth and buff in a circular motion until all of the excess butter/oil is gone 

• DON’T use vegetable or nut based oils. They can leave your rattle smelling rancid. 

• For a little added protection if using mineral oil, you can add a butcher block conditioner afterwards. It's not necessary but it helps. We like the Howard Butcher Block Conditioner. You can typically find it at most big box stores. You would apply this conditioner the same way as the oil above.

  • If you use our homemade Board Butter, you do not need any extra protection! Our butter is made from a mix of food grade mineral oil and beeswax, giving it all the protection you need while keeping it safe for your baby to place in their mouth.

 

Coasters** and Kitchen Gadgets

The primary function of a coaster is to absorb water from your glass and protect the surfaces in your home. Kitchen gadgets serve an essential role in the kitchen and must be washed to keep them clean and safe to use. Water is generally the enemy to any wood as too much exposure to water can cause it to dry and crack.

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Please note: this only applies to coasters that are finished with our board butter. Coasters finished with any other topcoat such as poly, lacquer or shellac do not require additional maintenance. However, if you choose to apply a conditioner to items finished with other topcoats, it will provide an extra layer of protection for the wood. All other kitchen gadgets are finished in our Board Butter and must be maintained to for lasting use.

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Regular Use Care

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Our wooden products are NOT dishwasher safe! Placing wooden products in the dishwasher can cause extreme damage to the product including extreme drying out of the wood and failure of the wood glue joints causing the item to fall apart. Here are a few tips for cleaning your item after using it.

• Hand wash your item with regular dish soap and hot water. Do not submerge the product in the water. Long periods of exposure to hot water can cause the glue joints to fail.

• As soon as you are finished cleaning your product, dry it immediately with a clean towel. This will help to prevent the wood from cupping or warping. This will happen sometimes with bench scrapers as the wood used for these items are very thin. The wood tends to straighten itself back out when fully dry.

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Monthly Maintenance

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To keep your coasters and kitchen gadgets protected from the water and looking great, follow these simple steps once a month or any time they are starting to dry out! 

• Apply conditioner to your item. Our homemade Board Butter is the best tool for the job! 

  • Apply our Board Butter generously on your item with a clean lint free cloth.

  • If you cannot use our board butter, you can use food grade mineral oil which you can generally find in the pharmacy section of your grocery store.

  • Lay the item out to dry for about 30 minutes so the wood has time to soak up the butter/oil.  

  • If the wood still appears dry, apply more butter/oil and wait 30 more minutes before continuing to the next step 

  • After 30 minutes is up, use a clean dry cloth and buff in a circular motion until all of the excess butter/oil is gone 

• DON’T use vegetable or nut based oils. They can leave your item smelling rancid. 

• For a little added protection if using mineral oil, you can add a butcher block conditioner afterwards. It's not necessary but it helps to trap the oil so that it doesn't leave your product feeling oily. We like the Howard Butcher Block Conditioner. You can typically find it at most big box stores. You would apply this conditioner the same way as the oil above.

  • If you use our homemade Board Butter, you do not need any extra protection! Our butter is made from a mix of food grade mineral oil and beeswax, giving it all the protection you need

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For any questions related to your wooden item purchase, please don’t hesitate to email us at lcrusticaccents@gmail.com