How do I clean a (treated?) bamboo desktop?

August 24, 2019 10:45 AM

How do I clean my desk properly? What cleaners should I avoid? (It's bamboo with a "UV cured topcoat")

I have a desk with a bamboo top (this one, and I want to clean it. I checked the company's FAQ, which includes a cleaning section, but it doesn't really say anything about everyday maintenance.

Assume I don't know anything about cleaning anything. What should I use to clean my desk? What should I avoid? Is something like Murphy's Oil Spray okay? Would something like this Method All Purpose Spray be reasonable?

Thanks. You are all amazing generous people.

posted by hapticactionnetwork to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

Dust with dry microfiber towel. If it needs more cleaning from time to time, use a microfiber towel dampened with water. The cloth cleans remarkably well without soap or other product. If there's an area that really needs more cleaning, use water with a little dish soap. Murphy's leaves residue that builds up over time. I use Method A.P. Spray for kitchen surfaces and stubborn finger marks on woodwork, but it's a lot stronger than necessary for a desk.
posted by wryly at 12:05 PM on August 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

It looks like strand-woven bamboo. The same stuff (with UV cured topcoat) can be used for flooring. We have it in our bathrooms, and the material and coating are both extremely tough. About the only thing that will damage it is long-term water exposure at cut ends, and even that will just discolour it without any swelling of the material. I had to cut ours to size with a chop saw when I laid it, and it's so hard I wore through two blades. Ours looks like new after 10 years, and that's with being walked on.

In other words, this desk looks pretty low-maintenance, so go to town with whatever general-purpose surface cleaner you have (that Method stuff looks fine). You don't need to care for this in the way you would something with an oil or french polish treatment. I wouldn't use anything that contains oil or is designed to 'nourish' the wood - that'll have no effect on top of the surface lacquer. A bit of dish soap and water ought to do fine.
posted by pipeski at 12:18 PM on August 24, 2019

Dust with microfibre cloth, then use this. We have bamboo floors in half the house and they look as good as they did 3 years ago. We’ve never washed with water. Murphy’s Oil soap will leave streaks. This what we use.
posted by lemon_icing at 5:47 AM on August 25, 2019