Care

Instructions for Care & Maintenance

Thank you for purchasing your Hand Crafted Chime!

Our goal is to provide you with a beautiful looking and sounding product that will last many many years. You can hang your wind chime up right out of the box and expect that. There are some things you can do to help keep your wind chime beautiful and protect it from the elements.

Hang your wind chime from a tree or patio. Having some protection from the sun and rain will help protect the wood from uv and water damage. The supplied ring should be secured to your tree or patio with paracord or a sturdy cup hook. Typically the wood in your wind chimes has been stained and treated with boiled linseed oil. It is recommended to periodically re-treat the wood with linseed oil this will help protect it from uv and water damage as well as restore the lustrous warmth of the natural wood. If you specifically requested wood coated with polyurethane or a clear coat this is not necessary.

Polishing your copper. If you purchase non patinaed chimes they have been polished with 0000 steel wool and a light oil like CLP to achieve the finish you receive. If you wish for your chimes to remain shiny or don’t like the patina they develop they can be polished again using 0000 steel wool or finer going with the grain and protected with a light oil.

Chemically patinaed chimes will change color and age with time. We use a salt solution and ammonia fumes to “rust” our patinaed copper. The copper is well rinsed after this process but like rust it can still be a little messy, the dust can come off on your hands and a bit may wash off on to whatever is below. No special care is required here, let the wind and rain do their thing. If you don’t like the dust we can clear coat the patinaed copper here or you can get a spray can and diy. Colors may darken or change a bit with a clear coat.

“OH NO MY STRING BROKE!” That’s terrible I’m sorry. This may happen; first, check to be sure the string didn’t simply come off of the eye screw during shipping or a hurricane. (You should probably bring your wind chime inside if there is a hurricane in the forecast.) If the string came off, put it back on. If the string actually broke you may be able to just tie it back together. If not it is moss green 50lb test braided fishing line. This can be purchased at walmart or any sporting goods store or shoot me a note and i’ll mail you some and any directions needed to re-tie. Our products are made by hand and it is possible that we missed removing a small burr or sharp edge. If your string breaks check the holes it is threaded through for sharp edges, these can be dulled using a small drill bit or needle file.

Damaged or broken parts. we’d like you to enjoy your wind chime for at least as long as we are around. If any of your parts are broken or damaged from normal use just send us a photo and we can replace them (If it’s not from normal use I expect a really good youtube video and product plug). Broken or chipped wood pieces can be repaired with wood glue and wood putty. Final sanding is with 400 grit. To hide deep scratches and repairs you can touch up the stain, the most common stain color is gunstock (available at most hardware stores) and again use linseed oil to restore shine. Small dents in copper can be lightly tapped out with a hammer on a wooden surface. Large dents or bends in the metal may require heat to anneal the piece before reshaping or total replacement.

Wishing you many joyous days in your outdoor space,
Rachele & Nicholas Merk

Handcraftedchimes.com
nickmerk@gmail.com c. 702-235-1754
rachelemerk@gmail.com c. 480-241-0367