When it comes to cleaning your chess board and pieces, we’ve found that Melaleuca products are the best. Melaleuca makes several safe, environmentally friendly, toxin-free cleaning products, and we’d like to highlight a few of them here.
Though we specialize in online chess software, nothing beats owning and using a beautiful chess set. Whether you go for the classic, wooden look or something more modern, you want your chess set to last a long time. That means you have to take good care of it.
If you use your chess set as often as we do, then there’s going to be inevitable wear and tear. That’s to be expected. But regular cleaning and conditioning will extend the life of your chess set for many years. And if you happen to be a clean freak/germaphobe, you’ll want to regularly disinfect your chess pieces, especially if they come into contact with many hands.
That being said, what’s the best way to clean your chess board and pieces? Well, that mostly depends on what they are made of. If it’s all plastic, that opens up a lot of options. Heck, if that’s the case, you can throw the whole thing in the dishwasher.But we’re assuming here that you love chess like we do and have paid for a really nice custom set.
Now, if your set is made of a more delicate material, say wood, or if it is painted or decorated, you need to be more careful. That’s why we like Melaleuca products. Here are four products we highly recommend for cleaning your chess set:
Tough & Tender is Melaleuca’s all-purpose cleaner. It’s great at removing grime that accumulates over time, but it’s gentle enough to even use on natural stone. For those of you who have granite and marble chess sets, this is great news. The great thing about Tough & Tender—as with all Melaleuca products—is that it doesn’t contain any chlorine bleach, ammonia, or other harsh chemicals, so it’s safe on your chess set, in your home, and around your family.
Clear Power is Melaleuca’s go-to glass cleaner, but it works wonders on any smooth surface including stainless steel. It doesn’t leave any streaks, so if you have a stainless steel or glass board, this is definitely a product you’ll want. Like Tough & Tender, Clear Power is super concentrated, so it will last you a good long while.
Sol-U-Guard Botanical is a disinfectant spray that uses natural thyme and citric acid to kill germs, as opposed to bleach or other nasty, fume-producing chemicals. If you use your chess set as often as we do, you’ll want to disinfect your pieces on a regular basis, and we think Sol-U-Guard is the way to go.
If you have a wooden chess set, then it’s all about the polish. Rustic Touch is Melaleuca’s furniture polish, and it’s perfect for polishing up your wooden chess set to a perfect chine. It contains carnuba wax and has a great orange scent.
Melaleuca.com has a lot of other products, but when it comes to taking care of our chess sets, these are our favorites.