How To Give Your Bathtub A New Lease On Life
Over time, your bathtub can definitely start showing its age. It is not surprising to see tubs with scratches, cracks, gouges or even burns! So, you've decided to finally do something about it. The easiest choice is to buy a new tub, but there are some drawbacks:
* Bathtubs are not a small ticket item to begin with.
* You will need to pay a professional to remove the old tub.
* Similarly, bathtub installation requires some skill, so you will probably need to hire someone again.
* The removal and installation process is time consuming, sometimes taking a couple of weeks, so you will not be able to use your tub.
Before you buy a new bathtub, examine some of the other choices available.
Alternatives To Buying New Bathtubs
1. Repainting: You can repaint your tub or have someone do it for you. Kits for doing it yourself are available, but if you're not handy, it would be better to find a pro. Even if you hire someone, this process is done within 24 hours and is quite economical. This is an easy way to give your bathtub a great new look.
2. Bathtub Reglazing: Refinishing your tub gives it a new surface which can last 20 years or more. Like painting, this is usually done within 24 hours.
3. Liners For Your Tub: A liner, or new outer surface, is another quick way to make your tub look great.
4. Bathtub Surrounds: These are walls around the tub, so they do not actually do anything to improve the bathtub itself, but instead dress up the surrounding area.
Very often, one of the above alternatives will work just fine, but sometimes, nothing but replacing the tub completely will work.
Rob Barnes writes for Bathtubs For You, a consumer guide to help you select, buy and maintain bathtubs, covering topics such as bathtub inserts, bathtub repair kits and bathtub repair.
Inexpensive Bedroom Furniture for the Contemporary Look
If cost is holding you back from purchasing new bedroom furniture, there are alternatives out there that will let you update your look without putting you in the poorhouse. Even as the Swedish company with the blue and gold logo has made knock-down, or ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture much more commonplace, there is still a negative connotation attached to furniture made with engineered wood that is very undeserving. In fact, there are a few advantages that RTA furniture has over solid and all-wood furniture that many out there don’t know about.
Perhaps the main advantage RTA furniture has over solid wood furniture is that it is actually stronger. Particleboard with a thin veneer on each side can hold more weight and take more abuse than most solid wood boards. In addition, solid wood has the propensity to warp and crack over time due to changes in humidity and moisture entering small cracks and openings. Engineered wood is almost completely impenetrable and doesn’t have the natural cracks and pores solid wood has. If taken care of, RTA furniture actually has properties that give it a longer life span than solid wood furniture.
If you’re going for a contemporary look in your bedroom, RTA furniture is the ideal choice for you. Modern designs are simple and sleek, with solid tones that are often void of wood grains completely. Dark hues like espresso and jet black are very popular in contemporary bedroom furniture right now. What’s the use of hiding a beautiful oak bedroom set under a coat of black paint? RTA furniture gives you the finish and look you want for a fraction of the price.
And of course, price is always a concern; at least it is for most of us. If taken care of properly, your RTA bedroom set can last for as long as you want it to. If you like to update the look in your bedroom every so often and prefer to keep up with trends, RTA furniture is perfect for you. You don’t have to invest a huge chunk of money and pray you don’t grow tired of it like you do with solid wood furniture. With the minimal cost of RTA furniture, updating your bedroom furniture every year or two is viable option.
For a HUGE selection of bedroom furniture including beautiful platform beds visit the Eco-Furniture website today.
Use Linseed Oil for a Silky Finish on Antique Furniture
In Europe in the Age of Oak, from the beginning of the 16th century to the middle of the 17th century, furniture finishes were limited to vegetable oils and waxes.
People were probably more concerned with preserving the wood than with enhancing its appearance.
Until revived in recent years by some leading furniture makers, the use of linseed oil alone was forsaken - save for a few diehards - in favor of commercially prepared penetrating tung oils.
Although the tung oils work into the wood, sealing and hardening the surface and leaving a more natural look than a brushed-on finish, nothing produces a sheen as incomparably silky as a coat or two of linseed oil, properly applied.
This finish is particularly suited to hard, close-grained wood. If heated and used on a warm day, the oil penetrates deep into the wood, drawing out color and indistinct surface configurations that may have faded or been bleached out.
But not all woods can stand such a revival, for linseed oil can permanently change the mellow look that aged wood may have taken so long to achieve.
The rich, golden brown of antique cherry can become an insignificant red.
Curly maple, though, thrives on this finish and can produce superb amber tones to contrast with the dark, slightly raised tiger stripes.
Linseed oil is also well suited to most stripped bent wood of all shapes and sizes, and on rockers - provided the wood is sound - the finish never seems to fail.
If you decide to try this finish, set a glass container of the oil in a pan of hot water and heat it to a comfortable 110 degrees Fahrenheit, which also thins it for effective penetration.
Apply it with a piece of cotton toweling lightly wetted with the oil and then rubbed over the surfaces. Use comfortable but vigorous pressure to maintain surface warmth.
Continue until the wood will absorb no more and its surfaces remain wet. Dry it, again, vigorously, with a coarse cloth like denim or canvas, and leave the work for a day or two.
If there is surface sweating in that time, rub away the beads of oil with the coarse cloth.
If the piece is too sticky and stubborn to respond to this treatment, use the applicator pad again, but dampen it with paint thinner.
Next, rub in another coat, but apply the oil sparingly and keep it warm.
When you can rub your palm over the surfaces without picking up any oil, the wood is ready for the final step, polishing with a paste wax. Use white wax for light-colored woods and brown wax for darker ones.
Visit http://www.antiquesncollectibles.com for more information, articles and other resources related to the antiques and collectibles market.
* Bathtubs are not a small ticket item to begin with.
* You will need to pay a professional to remove the old tub.
* Similarly, bathtub installation requires some skill, so you will probably need to hire someone again.
* The removal and installation process is time consuming, sometimes taking a couple of weeks, so you will not be able to use your tub.
Before you buy a new bathtub, examine some of the other choices available.
Alternatives To Buying New Bathtubs
1. Repainting: You can repaint your tub or have someone do it for you. Kits for doing it yourself are available, but if you're not handy, it would be better to find a pro. Even if you hire someone, this process is done within 24 hours and is quite economical. This is an easy way to give your bathtub a great new look.
2. Bathtub Reglazing: Refinishing your tub gives it a new surface which can last 20 years or more. Like painting, this is usually done within 24 hours.
3. Liners For Your Tub: A liner, or new outer surface, is another quick way to make your tub look great.
4. Bathtub Surrounds: These are walls around the tub, so they do not actually do anything to improve the bathtub itself, but instead dress up the surrounding area.
Very often, one of the above alternatives will work just fine, but sometimes, nothing but replacing the tub completely will work.
Rob Barnes writes for Bathtubs For You, a consumer guide to help you select, buy and maintain bathtubs, covering topics such as bathtub inserts, bathtub repair kits and bathtub repair.
Inexpensive Bedroom Furniture for the Contemporary Look
If cost is holding you back from purchasing new bedroom furniture, there are alternatives out there that will let you update your look without putting you in the poorhouse. Even as the Swedish company with the blue and gold logo has made knock-down, or ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture much more commonplace, there is still a negative connotation attached to furniture made with engineered wood that is very undeserving. In fact, there are a few advantages that RTA furniture has over solid and all-wood furniture that many out there don’t know about.
Perhaps the main advantage RTA furniture has over solid wood furniture is that it is actually stronger. Particleboard with a thin veneer on each side can hold more weight and take more abuse than most solid wood boards. In addition, solid wood has the propensity to warp and crack over time due to changes in humidity and moisture entering small cracks and openings. Engineered wood is almost completely impenetrable and doesn’t have the natural cracks and pores solid wood has. If taken care of, RTA furniture actually has properties that give it a longer life span than solid wood furniture.
If you’re going for a contemporary look in your bedroom, RTA furniture is the ideal choice for you. Modern designs are simple and sleek, with solid tones that are often void of wood grains completely. Dark hues like espresso and jet black are very popular in contemporary bedroom furniture right now. What’s the use of hiding a beautiful oak bedroom set under a coat of black paint? RTA furniture gives you the finish and look you want for a fraction of the price.
And of course, price is always a concern; at least it is for most of us. If taken care of properly, your RTA bedroom set can last for as long as you want it to. If you like to update the look in your bedroom every so often and prefer to keep up with trends, RTA furniture is perfect for you. You don’t have to invest a huge chunk of money and pray you don’t grow tired of it like you do with solid wood furniture. With the minimal cost of RTA furniture, updating your bedroom furniture every year or two is viable option.
For a HUGE selection of bedroom furniture including beautiful platform beds visit the Eco-Furniture website today.
Use Linseed Oil for a Silky Finish on Antique Furniture
In Europe in the Age of Oak, from the beginning of the 16th century to the middle of the 17th century, furniture finishes were limited to vegetable oils and waxes.
People were probably more concerned with preserving the wood than with enhancing its appearance.
Until revived in recent years by some leading furniture makers, the use of linseed oil alone was forsaken - save for a few diehards - in favor of commercially prepared penetrating tung oils.
Although the tung oils work into the wood, sealing and hardening the surface and leaving a more natural look than a brushed-on finish, nothing produces a sheen as incomparably silky as a coat or two of linseed oil, properly applied.
This finish is particularly suited to hard, close-grained wood. If heated and used on a warm day, the oil penetrates deep into the wood, drawing out color and indistinct surface configurations that may have faded or been bleached out.
But not all woods can stand such a revival, for linseed oil can permanently change the mellow look that aged wood may have taken so long to achieve.
The rich, golden brown of antique cherry can become an insignificant red.
Curly maple, though, thrives on this finish and can produce superb amber tones to contrast with the dark, slightly raised tiger stripes.
Linseed oil is also well suited to most stripped bent wood of all shapes and sizes, and on rockers - provided the wood is sound - the finish never seems to fail.
If you decide to try this finish, set a glass container of the oil in a pan of hot water and heat it to a comfortable 110 degrees Fahrenheit, which also thins it for effective penetration.
Apply it with a piece of cotton toweling lightly wetted with the oil and then rubbed over the surfaces. Use comfortable but vigorous pressure to maintain surface warmth.
Continue until the wood will absorb no more and its surfaces remain wet. Dry it, again, vigorously, with a coarse cloth like denim or canvas, and leave the work for a day or two.
If there is surface sweating in that time, rub away the beads of oil with the coarse cloth.
If the piece is too sticky and stubborn to respond to this treatment, use the applicator pad again, but dampen it with paint thinner.
Next, rub in another coat, but apply the oil sparingly and keep it warm.
When you can rub your palm over the surfaces without picking up any oil, the wood is ready for the final step, polishing with a paste wax. Use white wax for light-colored woods and brown wax for darker ones.
Visit http://www.antiquesncollectibles.com for more information, articles and other resources related to the antiques and collectibles market.