Owning furniture is common as it offers an elegant and impressive look to your home. Homeowners most favor white among all color options as it looks decent and attractive.
Unfortunately, time brings a big yet significant change in your furniture. It turns your white furniture into yellow, making it look dull and unattractive. Mostly it’s the white paint that, once applied to the furniture, turned yellow. It’s a common problem that homeowners face, and most of them prefer repainting the furniture to bring back its charm.
If you have suffered the same problem and are looking forward to finding the issues alongside treatment to resolve it, you have landed at the right place.
Why White Paint Turn Yellow?
Before you find a solution to bring back the white beauty of the furniture, it’s essential to understand the science behind why your white color turns yellow. Yellow appearance is common in white paint, but it’s more prominent in alkyd or oil-based paints. You will witness the yellowish section on the furniture that isn’t exposed to sunlight.
The most common reason alongside oil/alkyd paint is heat that comes from household items like heaters, stoves, etc. This issue can also occur if your furniture is exposed to ammonia from adjacent acrylic paint applications in the same room. You must note that ammonia can oxidize the alkyd component and cause the yellowing of your furniture.
With time, the layer of yellow overtakes white, and hence your entire furniture turns yellow. Instead, the depth of yellow increases over time, which makes your furniture look dull.
How Can You Avoid Yellowing Your Furniture?
This is the crucial question that every homeowner asks if they own white furniture. The best and most practical solution to this problem is avoiding oil-based paints, considered more durable than latex paints. Yes, latex paint also tends to turn yellow, but it retains the color for a long time.
Most people apply a dual-layer of latex paint to keep it white for a longer period. Further, it’s also essential to keep the furniture protected from heat, stove, and other radiators that can turn white into yellow.
Can You Repair White Turned Yellow Paint?
If your furniture has turned yellow from white, you might be searching for this question. The answer is a big YES. A practical option to repair your furniture and bring its white charm back is repainting it white. You can add a new and protective layer over yellowish/dull paint with white paint. Once painted, you can keep the furniture protected in your room with the least heat, dark and other factors that result in an exposure.
Now you have earned a sound knowledge about why and how your white furniture turns yellow. It’s now time to bring light on how you can maintain your furniture and retain its white charm for years.
Below are the maintenance pointers that you must consider:
Routine Maintenance: Yes, timely maintenance is the root factor for the extended life of your furniture with the same white shine that it delivers on day one. Under maintenance, you must wipe your furniture with a soft sponge or cleaner once a month. Homeowners also prefer finding a secure shelter for the furniture to prevent them from fading.
Use Toothpaste as a Cleaner: If neglected, your white furniture will turn yellow over time, and you won’t experience color change if you compare it with new furniture. Here Toothpaste is a smart way to clean your furniture and protect its brightness. After using Toothpaste, it’s highly recommended to use a soft cloth to clean the surface. Using a furniture duster isn’t recommended.
Prevent Watermarks: Often, you neglect the household items kept on white furniture; it creates a watermark that looks annoying. Hence it’s essential to remove the watermarks whenever you proceed with any purpose.
To remove the watermarks from your furniture, wash the surface with a wet cloth and wait till the watermark is wholly removed.
Any Tips to Prevent Furniture from Turning Yellow?
Most homeowners are aware of their furniture turning yellow but aren’t aware how they can avoid this problem with brand new furniture. Below are some points you must follow to protect your white furniture from turning yellow.
- Avoid putting your furniture in the open or apply oil-based paints.
- Avoid keeping the furniture out of heat ducts as it might dull its color and turn yellow.
- Prefer adding an exhaust fan in your kitchen as it will eliminate the entire air from the kitchen.
- Rejecting smoking is one of the primary factors you must consider to minimize the problem with white furniture. You must reduce smoking in the house as it will find someplace to settle and start allowing your furniture.
- If you have plans to apply oil-based paint, you must apply water-based paint on the entire furniture before applying the oil-based paint.
- If you are planning to use oil-based paint, you must consider it for furniture that changes its color over time.
Additional Tip:
With these tips, you can ensure long-lasting yet white furniture that will serve you for decades to come. However, it’s interesting to note that if anyone in your family smokes, it brings tobacco stains to the furniture, which is also a strong reason for turning yellow.
In short, you must protect your furniture from moisture, dark and direct exposure to heat that can turn white into yellow. With the right maintenance, you can retain the whiteness of your furniture for at least two years.
Direct exposure to the sun can fade your furniture, which is a must to note for every homeowner. That said, you are now trained enough to acknowledge the yellowing of your white furniture and how you can resolve it. This knowledge will surely help you retain the charm and beauty of your white furniture.
What other ways do you think can help in rewinding white color out of the yellow furniture?
