How to Care for Your Wooden and Other Gifts

For many of you and your loved ones out there receiving Wood Leon gifts, or any wooden gifts for that matter, you may be wondering how to properly care for these wooden gems, or (Heaven forbid) have noticed some adverse effects already on the wood due to weather or other factors. As wood is more susceptible to the effects of nature, runny nosies, toddler fist-smashes, and doggies, it may be worth your time to keep these suggestions in mind for properly caring for your new wondrous wooden gifts, as well as products with other materials (like leather). This guidance will more specifically be aimed at Wood Leon products, but a lot of this information you may find helpful for items of similar material in your home.

3D Bowties (Rafiki)

For these bent and bonded beauties, it's important to be gentle and to not squeeze. Store them in their original gift boxes. The bowties are among the most intricate and fragile of all Wood Leon creations, and, if squeezed, can break. Take special care around children, animals, and tight, low-clearance Ducati turns on Swiss alpine roads.

Beanies, Hats, Scarves

You're going to want to HAND WASH these puppies. Machine washing, as well as using a dryer, is not recommended. Remember, wood warps with moisture (like in the horrors of a cracked clarinet . . . a moment of silence for that Dixieland Jazz that may have never gotten to serenade). Intense humidity or the wood just plain getting wet could spell bad news for future days. The wood on the hats and beanies is thankfully positioned to warp with the head shape, but our heads our only shaped so much. Be ye warned.

Cups and Bottles

For these dandy drink trinkets, hand wash them before use. In fact, hand wash them whenever you wash them! The dishwasher is not recommended (for the colored cups especially, dishwashing may dash away the colorful beauty).

Cutting Boards

After slashing and slicing your favorite foods or protecting yourself from a rogue Wolverine, you may end up with a cutting board that is too cut up. Once this happens, simply sand it down using about 160 grit sandpaper, and, afterwards, use a natural food-safe mineral oil to finish it and protect the grains. You can get some here. This is the same stuff we use. "Colorless, Odorless, Tasteless." But not that stuff from Princess Bride. Keep your wits about you.

Leather (anything that has leather)

Whether you're bushwackin' in the center of Australia, venturing the National Parks of Utah, or just sportin' your best bone beaded fringe leather jacket, your leather gear may need some TLC after a while. We use 100% genuine 3–4 oz full grain leather on all our leather products. Use and time will naturally make leather darker. Two rules on leather: 1. use water to lighten/clean the leather, but also to make it stiffer 2. Use a type of oil made to protect leathers such as mink oil (perhaps slightly better to use than dragon oil), to make it darker/more flexible, and to protect from wear and tear.

Oil Vessels

To help keep your oil vessels filled and functional and maybe even your lamps a' burnin', keep in mind these care tactics. Keep out of freezing temperatures, as the glass tube inside may crack and break releasing your oil. To use oil in glass tube, pull (not twist) the plastic stick out, and use it to help release a droplet of oil where you want it. Keep the black rubber o-ring on, to not lose the top/lid. Naturally over time and after so many bags of The Tears of My Enemies Extra Salty Lay's Chips, your finger oils may turn the wood darker, and it will lose its sheen. This is natural in wood. If you wish, you could get some really fine sand paper (400 grit) and sand with the grain, then put a finish of your choice on to help restore to the original or similar quality.

Pens

After completing a sequel to Great Expectations, you may notice that your pen isn't at quite the same functionality as it was. Keep your Wood Leon pen (bolt-action or otherwise) in velvet pouch or protective case to avoid scratches. To refill the ink on the bolt-action pens, simply unscrew the nib (the bottom piece of pen), pull out the empty cartridge, and replace it with the new (DON'T lose the spring!). You can buy refills (rollerball or gel) at any Office Depot or online.

Pets



(Note: Dog is not a retail product of Wood Leon)

Dogs, cats, goats, gerbils, and other furry friends are wonderful creations and companions, but their refuse may not have respect for anyone. Even well-intentioned pets can get a little wild sometimes. Tho drool-, tare-, and water- resistant, the wood pet tags are still made of wood, and can break. Please take caution to not twist the name tags with the keychain ring on, as enough torque will cause it to break. To avoid this, try using two keyrings connected to each other (think collar, then ring, then ring, then tag), providing the tag a 360-degree advantage over the single keychain ring.

Wood Stickers

As you're reppin' yoself befo' you wreckin' yoself with these flexible wood stickers, keep a few precautions in mind. "Flexible" and "weather-resistant" are words used in relativity. Though the wood stickers are quite flexible, considering they are made of REAL WOOD, they will crack and break if over-flexed. Please be careful not to bend over to too steep of a circumference. The stickers will likely last quite a long time on water bottles, cups, computers, etc., and do well under water and even normal soap for cleaning. Continuous water, sun, and dirt (like on a car stored outside) can cause the wood to act wood-like and start to decompose and warp. Be ye warned.

Ties

And now, the pièce de résistance, the magnum opus, the big cheese—the Wood Leon wooden necktie. For these tasty ties, store hanging up or laying flat, AWAY from the sun (prolonged sunlight makes some woods lighten, and most darken, and can also cause warping.) If stored crumpled, especially in humidity, wood can begin to warp and glue come apart. Otherwise, ties can last for years, perhaps even centuries . . . perhaps even megaanni.

*Avoid water as much as possible, store it flat or vertical, and don't over-flex the actual wood to cracking point. If a piece starts to come off, use a dab of yellow wood glue and glue it back on, lightly covering the surface area. To refinish, sand with high grit with the grain, and use towel and danish oil to complete.

Remember, due to the custom nature of our products, we do not keep inventory, and thus cannot accept returns, refunds, exchanges, etc. Please contact us with any other questions on how to care for your products! In the meantime, enjoy the compliments that will come as you keep your hand-crafted product in quality condition, perhaps while your bustin' move like Snoopy and his friends!