BrightWood Custom Cabinet Care Guide
Important Information About Your Cabinet Care
Easy Maintenance
Caring For The Interior
Simply wipe with a damp cloth or sponge, then dry immediately. To remove food residue or grease, use any common dish washing liquid and a clean damp cloth to wipe clean. Dry thoroughly.
For Spills: If a spill occurs, clean up and dry immediately. Left unattended, a spill can soak through the surface and cause damage.
Caring For Wood Surfaces
Wipe the surface with a clean, damp cloth, then dry immediately.
To remove general soil or grease, use any common dish washing liquid and a clean damp cloth to wipe clean. Dry thoroughly.
Excess moisture can damage any cabinet finish; areas near the sink, range, dishwasher, oven, and baseboards are most susceptible. Keep these surfaces dry.
Avoid draping damp cloths or dish towels over cabinet doors. Over time, this moisture could cause permanent water damage.
Waxing is not necessary, but you may apply any furniture polish or lemon oil recommended for fine furniture, if desired. Be sure to wipe off excess to avoid buildup.
DO NOT attach or adhere items such as sticky-back notes, colored paper, etc. to the cabinetry as these items risk having the colors bleed through damaging the cabinet finish.
Do not use a dish cloth for cleaning. It could contain remnants of grease or detergents.
BLEACH & AMMONIA: Avoid using cleaners that contain bleach, ammonia, or abrasives. These cleaners can damage your cabinet’s finish.
Important Effects of Temperature and Humidity
This information applies to ALL cabinets and furniture no matter who manufactures the items.
Wood is a hygroscopic material, meaning that it will absorb or release moisture until it is in equilibrium with the moisture in the air. This is true of all wood, whether it is raw or finished. Finishing will tend to slow down this process, but will not eliminate it. When wood is exposed to a constant humidity, it will achieve a constant moisture content (MC). This MC numerical value is called the equilibrium moisture content (EMC). Wood will increase in width and thickness as it increases in MC, and will decrease in width and thickness as it decreases MC. BrightWood Cabinetry manufactures its products in a controlled environment to maintain a stable moisture content of the materials.
Never store cabinets in a trailer, garage, shed or other structure with an uncontrolled atmosphere.
Products supplied by BrightWood Cabinetry should only be stored / installed in an environment that has stable temperature and moisture conditions. This is especially important in regards to multi-piece items such as doors and drawer fronts. Effects of moisture (addition to / loss of) may include panel expansion, panel contraction, overlapping or excessive gaps of butt-doors, splitting of wood, joint expansion or opening (especially on miter doors), finish cracking or peeling, stile bowing, stile / rail expansion, and stave to stave lines becoming visible in panels. Contraction of finished panels may also produce an effect called white line, in which a narrow strip of unfinished wood becomes visible at the point where the panel inserts into the framing. BrightWood has specifications on most of these conditions. For details on what is considered acceptable, refer to the following information.
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Uncontrolled Humidity Problems:
- Cabinetry installed in new construction prior to climate control being activated will result in absorption of moisture from other building materials. These materials can include paints, dry wall compound, cement, stucco and wood framing material with high moisture content. Each of these construction materials releases high amounts of moisture into the home during the drying / curing process that can be absorbed by your BrightWood products.
- Wood products located in humid climates are especially susceptible to expansion due to moisture. BrightWood Cabinetry will not warrant product failure caused by excessively humid conditions.
- Wood products located in dry climates are especially susceptible to contraction due to lack of moisture in the air. BrightWood Cabinetry will not warrant product failure caused by excessively dry conditions.
- Wood products installed in non-air conditioned homes, regardless of location, are very susceptible to expansion due to moisture and may not be warranted. All products, especially miter doors, need low, stable moisture conditions in order for the joints to remain tight.
- To minimize moisture expansion of wood products, winter and vacation homes should maintain some form of climate control, even in off season. BrightWood Cabinetry will not warranty products stored / installed in uncontrolled environments.
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Tips for Avoiding Moisture-related Problems:
- All species, especially maple, tend to expand when exposed to moisture. Failure to allow the interior home environment to reach stable conditions prior to storage/installation of BrightWood’s products will invite warpage and other related problems. Please refer to the following tips to avoid potential moisture related issues.
- BrightWood recommends a level of approximately 50% humidity in the home environment to maintain proper moisture content of the wood. You should install your BrightWood products only after the proper humidity levels have been achieved and maintained.
- Door expansion experienced prior to installation on the cabinet box will usually recede once the kitchen has been installed in an air conditioned environment. For this reason, we do not recommend trimming or “shaving” the edges of the doors, because once they return to original sizing, the doors may appear too narrow. BrightWood will not warrant products that have been trimmed by the customer.
- Unfinished doors exposed to humid conditions will absorb moisture rapidly and expand in as little as 2 days. Finished products will also absorb moisture and swell, but may not expand for as long as 10 days or more. Be aware of these conditions when storing and installing finished or unfinished products.
- Doors that have been exposed to high moisture conditions and then finished by the customer have an increased chance of white line or halo developing around the panels after the doors have contracted to their original size. We recommend doors be finished in their non-expanded state as soon after delivery as possible.
- Always go to extra lengths to ensure that all wood products are being stored in the proper environment. BrightWood Cabinetry will assume no responsibility for improper handling, storage, finishing, or installation of its products in high moisture/humidity conditions.
- Inset doors will most likely bind inside the cabinet frame when their panels expand due to high moisture/humidity conditions.
- Joint failure will result if panels are glued, pinned, stapled or secured to the framing on any wood door. BrightWood will not be held liable in these instances.