Caring for Kay Bojesen Wooden Figures: Oiled, Untreated, Lacquered

A Kay Bojesen figure is made to be picked up, posed and handed on, so it will be touched far more often than most objects on a shelf. The care it needs depends almost entirely on one detail printed in its material line: whether the wood is oiled, untreated or lacquered. This guide sets out what each finish asks of you, and what it is better to leave alone.

Read the material line first

The figures in the Kay Bojesen range look alike at a glance, all smooth curves and warm grain, but their surfaces are finished in three different ways. That finish decides almost every care decision that follows.

• Oiled: the Monkey medium teak/limba is made from oiled teak and oiled limba. Oil sits in the surface of the wood and slowly dries out over the years.
• Untreated: the Bear medium oak/maple (untreated oak and untreated maple), the Elephant small oak and Songbird Alfred, in untreated oak and untreated smoked oak, carry no surface finish at all.
• Lacquered: the Rocking Horse H56 cm beech is lacquered beech, sealed under a clear coat.

If you own several pieces, it is worth sorting them into these three groups before you do anything else. A cloth that suits one group can be wrong for another.

Everyday dusting for every finish

The baseline is the same for all three groups: wipe with a dry, soft cloth. A clean microfibre or an old cotton shirt works well. Dust collects in the places where shapes meet, such as the crook of the Monkey's arms, the Bear's ears or the join between the Elephant's trunk and head, so follow the curves rather than wiping across them.

Keep water away from the figures as a habit. None of them is dishwasher safe, and a wet cloth can raise the grain on bare wood, leaving a slightly furry surface where it was once smooth. If a sticky fingerprint will not lift with a dry cloth, breathe on the spot, wipe straight away and let the piece air dry before it goes back on the shelf. Avoid household sprays and polishes entirely; they leave residue that attracts more dust and can mark untreated wood for good.

A weekly dusting is plenty for a figure on an open shelf. Pieces in a glass cabinet may go months without needing attention.

Where to place a wooden figure

Placement does more for a figure's condition than any amount of polishing. Two things matter most: light and heat.

Direct sun changes the colour of wood. Teak tends to deepen and then, under strong light, bleach towards grey; pale woods such as maple and limba can yellow. The change is gradual and uneven, so the side facing the window ends up a different shade from the side facing the room. A windowsill that gets full afternoon sun is the one place in the house where a Kay Bojesen figure is likely to fade, which is a pity, because windowsills are exactly where many people like to put them. A north-facing sill, or a shelf a metre or two back from a sunny window, avoids the problem.

Heat is the second risk. A figure on a radiator shelf, above a wood stove or beside a heating vent dries out faster than the wood can adjust. Solid wood moves with humidity, and rapid drying is what opens small cracks along the grain and loosens joints. Keep figures a sensible distance from heat sources and away from the draught of an air conditioner.

Re-oiling the Monkey and other oiled pieces

An oiled figure is the only kind that benefits from regular attention beyond dusting. Over time the oil in the surface dries, and the wood starts to look pale, matt and slightly thirsty, especially on the parts that are handled most. That is the signal to re-oil. For a Monkey that lives on a shelf, that may be once every year or two; for one that is played with, sooner.

1. Dust the figure thoroughly so you are not rubbing grit into the wood.
2. Choose a clear oil intended for wooden furniture or wooden toys. Avoid cooking oils, which can turn rancid and sticky.
3. Put a small amount on a soft lint-free cloth, not directly on the figure, and work it in along the grain in thin coats.
4. After a few minutes, wipe off everything that has not soaked in. Excess oil left on the surface becomes tacky.
5. Let the figure dry for a day in a well-ventilated room before handling it again.

Treat the teak and the limba parts the same way, but go lightly on the paler limba. A thin coat is always better than a heavy one.

A word on safety: cloths soaked in drying oils can self-heat as they cure. Spread used cloths flat to dry outdoors or soak them in water before throwing them away.

Why untreated and lacquered wood is left alone

It is tempting to oil every wooden figure in the house at once. Resist it. Untreated oak and maple are sold untreated because their pale, dry look is part of the design. Oil would darken the Bear and the Elephant permanently, make the oak grain more yellow and change the contrast between the oak body and maple details that defines the Bear. There is no going back from that once the oil has soaked in.

Songbird Alfred is the clearest case. Smoked oak gets its deep brown from a smoking process applied to the wood itself, not from a coloured finish. Adding oil would alter that tone and the soft contrast with the untreated oak, so a dry cloth is all it should ever see.

Lacquer is the opposite situation. The Rocking Horse is sealed under a clear coat, so oil cannot reach the beech beneath and would simply sit on top. At 56 cm tall and 4.24 kg, it is built for a child to sit on, and the lacquer is what lets it shrug off small hands. Dust it, wipe the seat and handles with a dry cloth, and check now and then that it stands evenly on the floor.

Joints, knocks and repairs

The Monkey's movable arms and legs are what make it so easy to pose, hanging from a shelf edge or sitting with its knees up. With years of play the joints can loosen, and occasionally a limb comes away. That is not the end of the figure: spare parts exist for some of the Monkey's joints, so a well-loved piece can often be put right rather than retired. Keep any part that comes off, and avoid gluing a joint yourself, since glue makes a later repair much harder.

Small dents and scuffs on untreated oak are best left as they are. They become part of the figure's history, and Bojesen, who began as a silversmith before turning to wooden toys, intended these pieces to be handled rather than kept under glass. If you want to know more about how that idea took shape, read From Silversmith to Toymaker: Kay Bojesen's Wooden Figures.

Looked after in this simple way, dusted, kept out of the sun and away from heat, and oiled only where the material line says oiled, these figures age slowly and well. To find the right companion for the ones you already own, browse the full range of Wooden Figures & Sculptures.