A crystal-clear surface looks demanding. In practice, a properly cured resin table asks less of you than solid wood does: it does not need oiling, it does not absorb spills, and it will not stain from a glass of red wine left overnight. What it does need is protection from three things.
The Daily Ritual
A soft, damp cloth. That is the entire routine. Warm water, mild soap if something needs it, then dry with a second cloth to avoid water marks. Circular motions on a high-gloss surface eventually show as a haze under raking light — wipe in straight passes instead.
If a cleaning product promises to cut through grease, it is too aggressive for a polished resin surface.
Three Things to Avoid
- Direct heat. Resin softens well below the temperature of a pan straight off the stove. Always use a trivet. A hot mug is fine; a serving dish is not.
- Prolonged direct sunlight. Quality resin is UV-stabilised, but no resin is UV-proof forever. A table sitting in an unshaded south-facing window all summer will shift in tone over years. Rotate the piece or soften the light.
- Abrasives and solvents. No scouring pads, no acetone, no alcohol-based cleaners, no ammonia. These dull the polish permanently, and polish is the one thing you cannot restore with a cloth.
Everyday Marks
Fine surface scratches are the normal wear of a used table, and on a gloss finish they are visible before they are significant. Light marks can be reduced with a proper plastic polish applied by hand; deeper ones should be left to a professional refinish rather than experimented with.
The Wood Side
Exposed live edges and untreated wood undersides behave like any solid timber. Keep humidity reasonably stable — very dry winter heating is harder on wood than anything you will spill on it.
Treated this way, a piece such as Warm Forest or River Balance will look the same in a decade as it did on delivery day.