Humidity and Solid Hardwood Furniture

Humidity can affect a variety of things. Low humidity for example can cause your skin to dry out, make it hard to breath, dry your eyes out, and cause your furniture to shrink and cause cracks. High humidity will have moisture accumulate on your windows and cause water damage. On wooden furniture that is where wood can warp.

For those here in the northern parts of the country, the biggest culprit is low humidity. Typically in most summer months you do not need to worry about high humidity. For the better part the humidity range is pretty temperate. We like to say unless there is an unusually rainy summer you are for the better part safe.

When the winter months roll around that is when trouble can occur. During the winter months the air starts to dry out. The dryness causes wood to shrink, and if it gets bad enough, the wood shrinks to the point of cracking. One thing to think about is where furniture is placed as well. During the winter months you end up running the furnace to keep your home warm. If you have wooden pieces placed close to, underneath, or on top of your registers you end up blowing warm air directly on them. This causes those wooden pieces to dry out very fast due to the warm air directly on hitting it and the air being dry on top of it.

Humidity related problems are the only thing standing in your way of having your furniture truly last a lifetime. Staying on top of it during certain times of the year is the best way to ensure your furniture will last a lifetime. Humidity related problems do not happen overnight either. Typically it takes a few weeks to a month to truly cause anything to happen. Depending on where the piece is located at and the environment it is in that can change. Buying a hydrometer to monitor the humidity in your room(s) is a great way to stay on top of the humidity. Running a humidifier when your low and a dehumidifier when you’re too high is always recommended as well.