Dollhouse Furniture: How to protect, clean, and repair dollhouse furniture

By: dolly c

Dollhouse furniture really enhances any dollhouse, playtime experience, or overall appeal to a child and or dollhouse hobbits. Many times we can spend hours and hours mulling over catalogs and websites tying to find the perfect dollhouse furniture. But what do we need to do once it is purchased? This article explains some of the basic measures that you can take to protect, clean, and repair your dollhouse furniture.

Protecting your Dollhouse Furniture

Dollhouse furniture can be very fragile. Because of their small parts and intricate designs one slip off of a table could be the end of these pieces. That being said, our first bit of advice to you is to use common sense. Put away the dollhouse furniture after you are done with it. Now, with a family that can be easier said than done. Also, this does not mean that you can’t let your children or grandchildren play with the dollhouse furniture, it just means that there is less of a chance for accidents to occur if you are careful.
Now our second piece of advice is to seriously ask yourself why you are buying this dollhouse furniture. We suggest that if it is primarily for toddlers to play with then get some plastic or solid wooden pieces that don’t have a lot of little pieces or ends. On the other hand, if this is more for display or for an older child, then go for the good stuff!

How to clean your dollhouse furniture

Dollhouse furniture has some similarities to regular furniture, but there are some precautions that you should take when cleaning your dollhouse furniture. First, in most cases I would advise against using anything but a damp cloth. Sprays or stains will very easily become a big mess as you try to avoid the fabric areas of the furniture. However if you are cleaning a piece of furniture made of a solid piece of material feel free to use a cleaning spray or wood cleaner.

Dust is the biggest concern when cleaning dollhouse furniture. We recommend that you regularly dust your dollhouse and furniture about once a week. Using a damp rag and then wiping off any excess water will be the best course of action. Vacuum extensions can also be used to clean dollhouse floors and carpets.

We also suggest in order to help in your cleaning process that you take the time to rearrange your dollhouse furniture. Not only does this give your dollhouse a fresh look, but it prevents dust from collecting in the same area over and over again. Major changes are not necessary, we suggest that you could simply change around the same furniture in the same room.

Repairing your dollhouse furniture

No matter how much we love and take care of our dollhouse furniture, accidents can happen. First, let’s talk prevention. When displaying a dollhouse make sure that it is out of the reach of children’s or grandchildren’s hands. They would love to take and play with it, and sometimes they just want to bang it up and down on your floor. In any case, if you are using your dollhouse more for show then for play, make sure that some rules are put in place. For example, only play with the dollhouse when grandmother is around, etc.

Now let’s talk about repairs. For the most part, small decorative pieces of wood are the most common to break. This is no fault of the manufacturer, because you have to realize that with that amount of detail, the dollhouse pieces can come away beautiful yet fragile. We recommend that in such cases that you apply a small amount of wood glue, then hold the pieces together. Make sure to wipe away any excess glue as this could stain your furniture if allowed to dry. This same technique can apply for stone cracks or breakage; your local hardware store will be able to assist you with the proper adhesive.

Other repairs might need to be made on fabric or stone. The best thing for a small fabric tear is a needle and thread fix. When stitching the tear, make sure that you are hiding the thread by doing under-stitches (coming in from the bottom) and very small or close stitches. It will not be perfect, but a threaded will stop the tear from continuing its destructive path.

Conclusion

After you have put so much effort into building a dollhouse and furnishing it, you want to make sure that you are taking the right steps to save that dollhouse from harm. As you protect, clean, and repair your dollhouse you will preserve it for future years of fun, and for oncoming generations.

Article Source: http://www.bigfreearticles.com

About the Author:
Dollhouse City has built many dollhouses and loves sharing knowledge and tips in building a dollhouse. DollhouseCity.com offers dollhouse kits dollhouse furniture, accessories, and helpful hints in setting up your dollhouse kits.

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