Dusting Logs on the Inside

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Permalink Reply by Dave and Julie Christiansen on November 20, 2008 at 10:16pm

Hi Kevin: Julie and I are going to be using Permachink products for our logs and they told us in a couple of seminars we went to that we do not want to use funiture polish on our logs. The polish will give you a buildup and also effect the color of the logs. They suggested to use a damp cloth only. I hope this helps. Others out there may have more information about this that I don't know about. We are still in the sanding process of our logs. Good luck. Dave

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Permalink Reply by Glenn V on November 20, 2008 at 10:19pm

I have read that some just use a vacuum and saved extra extensions to reach up high.That way you could capture the dust and not spread it around. When we build we wish to go with the double round logs and I was wondering how long it took for them to get dusty and maybe how many times the logs would have to be dusted a year. I know that is one advantage to using D logs , flat inside , but I really like the round look.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Cherry on November 20, 2008 at 10:40pm

We also really loved the round log and that is why we went with them. We have been in the house about a year. We finished all of the painting about this time last year. I really did not notice the dust till recently. I figure if we had been looking for the dust we might have noticed it sooner and my guess is that it probably should be dusted at least a couple of times a year. Of course that depends upon your tolerance for dust!!!! My wife also suggested the vacuum. We have a rainbow so that should help keep the dust down. I really didn't think furniture polish would be a good idea so it is good to have that confirmed.

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Permalink Reply by Dave and Julie Christiansen on November 25, 2008 at 11:04am

We love the round logs and am very pleased with how they look. We also went with radient heating throughout, with no central forced air. This will help a lot in keeping dust to a minimum. You might want to consider that option when you build. We're glad we did. :) Dave

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Permalink Reply by Kelly on November 21, 2008 at 10:45am

Hi Kevin,

You can dust them with a vacuum, or a wet cloth. If you polyurethane the inside you could just take a wet cloth to clean the logs. The furniture polish will leave a residue. You can also use Murphy's Oil Soap. On the back of the label it will say you can use this on wood. There is no residue in this product.



I hoped this helped!

Kelly
I-Wood-Care

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Permalink Reply by Joe on November 25, 2008 at 12:18pm

A trick to use when using a shop vacuum is to obtain light weight flexible hosing such as from a central vacuum, pool hoses or other shop vacuums and extend the shop vacuum hose. You can then put the shop vacuum outside since the filter on a shop vacuum is not the greatest. The other way is to hook up a separate hose on the exhaust and shove this out a window or door. I have used both methods when wood sanding or doing drywall sanding. The drywall powder is extremely fine and will get through the filter to some extent so exhausting it outside keeps it out of the house.

Use a brush on the end of your extended wand (as suggested) to clean the logs or window sills.

I also use my shop vacuum as a rug cleaner with a kit that I bought that hooks to it. I havea dog so the carpets get cleaned by me very frequently.

Joe

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Permalink Reply by Ed Roane on November 25, 2008 at 12:50pm

One of the best ways I know to mitigate the stubborn removal of dust on logs is what you do in the beginning, when you are putting the finish on your interior logs. We lightly sand the logs between the first and second coat of finish. What happens when you apply almost any finish to wood is that it raises the small fibers of the wood. The fibers are like small hairs that trap the dust. If you lightly sand between coats of finish or between your stain and finish coat with a 180 grit sand paper. You need to clean your logs and then apply the finish coat. By eliminating the fibers when you apply the finish you will make it easier to clean the dust when it build up.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin on December 1, 2008 at 12:47pm

That is absolutely correct and a surefire way to minimize the dust issues. I totaly agree.
Makes for a much better finish also. Any dusting with a cloth results in less or no snagging.

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Permalink Reply by Glenn Molenaar on November 28, 2008 at 6:40am

Our wall logs are "D" profile, we have ceiling beams and they are rounded/double "D" profile. Both tend to collect dust but the wall logs have only a small "V" on each course. We sealed them with a non-yellowing product 10 years ago, my wife also runs the Rainbow vac over them 1 or 2 times a year, she tried the damp cloth and Murphy soap but the vac is much faster and less labor. Our roads were dirt until a couple years ago, they are black top now so we don't get as much dust, we have A/C but prefer the open air so this and wood heat add up to dust.
Glenn

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Cherry on November 28, 2008 at 9:41am

My wife tried her Rainbow and it worked well. Of course it took quite a bit of time, but seemed easier than trying to use a cloth. Thanks for everyones help.

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