Material Care

The Material Care Center

Every material in a Hawthorne & Reed coffee table, floor lamp or table lamp, and exactly how to look after it — written for the piece in your room, not for a category page.

    29 material guides · 7 categories

    Browse By Category

    7 families of material

    Composite & Coating

    Cast resin and acrylic — moulded lamp bodies and the columns that glow from within.

    3 materials · 5 pieces

    Fabric

    Shade cloth — linen, cotton and slubbed weaves stretched over a wire frame.

    1 material · 27 pieces

    Glass

    Table tops, and the diffusers and domes that soften a lamp.

    3 materials · 15 pieces

    Metal

    Frames, arcs, stems and table legs, and the fittings that carry a shade.

    6 materials · 49 pieces

    Natural Fibre

    Rattan, jute and split bamboo — woven shades that throw a patterned light.

    3 materials · 8 pieces

    Stone

    Quarried and engineered slabs — table tops, and the weighted bases that hold a lamp steady.

    4 materials · 26 pieces

    Wood

    Solid timber and veneered panels — the tops, plinths and turned bases our tables and lamps are built from.

    8 materials · 42 pieces

    Composite & Coating

    Cast resin and acrylic — moulded lamp bodies and the columns that glow from within.

    Acrylic surface texture Acrylic Rigid Polymer & Composite

    Clearer than glass, and far easier to scratch

    1 piece
    Plastic surface texture Plastic Rigid Polymer & Composite

    Moulded polymer components

    1 piece
    Resin surface texture Resin Rigid Polymer & Composite

    Poured, cured and formed into anything

    3 pieces

    Fabric

    Shade cloth — linen, cotton and slubbed weaves stretched over a wire frame.

    Fabric Shade surface texture Fabric Shade Fabric Lampshade

    Fabric over a shade frame — cleaned dry, never wet

    27 pieces

    Glass

    Table tops, and the diffusers and domes that soften a lamp.

    Ceramic surface texture Ceramic Glass

    Fired clay under a sealed glaze

    4 pieces
    Glass surface texture Glass Glass

    Clear, frosted or tinted glass

    10 pieces
    Smoked Glass surface texture Smoked Glass Glass

    Tinted through its full thickness

    1 piece

    Metal

    Frames, arcs, stems and table legs, and the fittings that carry a shade.

    Chrome surface texture Chrome Plated & Decorative Metal

    A micron-thin mirror over base metal

    5 pieces
    Iron surface texture Iron Coated Ferrous Metal

    Heavy, traditional and unmistakably solid

    10 pieces
    Metal surface texture Metal Coated Ferrous Metal

    Finished metal frames and fittings

    29 pieces
    Powder-Coated Steel surface texture Powder-Coated Steel Coated Ferrous Metal

    Electrostatic powder, fused into a tough film

    4 pieces
    Stainless Steel surface texture Stainless Steel Stainless Steel

    Steel that repairs its own surface

    3 pieces
    Steel surface texture Steel Coated Ferrous Metal

    The structural backbone of modern tables and lamps

    1 piece

    Natural Fibre

    Rattan, jute and split bamboo — woven shades that throw a patterned light.

    Cane Webbing surface texture Cane Webbing Woven Natural Fibre

    The rattan's outer skin, woven into a sheet

    1 piece
    Jute surface texture Jute Dry-Care Natural Fibre

    Coarse bast fibre, honest and inexpensive

    1 piece
    Raffia surface texture Raffia Dry-Care Natural Fibre

    Dried palm-leaf fibre, light and supple

    1 piece
    Rattan surface texture Rattan Woven Natural Fibre

    A solid climbing palm, bent under steam

    6 pieces

    Stone

    Quarried and engineered slabs — table tops, and the weighted bases that hold a lamp steady.

    Marble surface texture Marble Porous Natural Stone

    Metamorphic limestone, veined by geology

    15 pieces
    Sintered Stone surface texture Sintered Stone Engineered & Sintered Stone

    Mineral powder fired into a single dense slab

    1 piece
    Stone-Look Composite surface texture Stone-Look Composite Engineered & Sintered Stone

    Engineered to read as stone

    4 pieces
    Travertine surface texture Travertine Porous Natural Stone

    Formed in hot springs, full of its own history

    6 pieces

    Wood

    Solid timber and veneered panels — the tops, plinths and turned bases our tables and lamps are built from.

    Bamboo surface texture Bamboo Sealed Hardwood

    A grass, engineered to behave like hardwood

    1 piece
    Black-Stained Oak surface texture Black-Stained Oak Sealed Hardwood

    Oak taken to near-black, with the grain still reading through

    1 piece
    Lacquered Wood surface texture Lacquered Wood Veneer & Engineered Panel

    A hard clear or pigmented film over a wood substrate

    3 pieces
    Oak surface texture Oak Sealed Hardwood

    The workhorse hardwood of European design

    1 piece
    Solid Wood surface texture Solid Wood Sealed Hardwood

    Solid timber, finished to be lived with

    18 pieces
    Walnut surface texture Walnut Sealed Hardwood

    The dark heartwood prized above every other American timber

    8 pieces
    Wood surface texture Wood Sealed Hardwood

    Wood and wood-finished surfaces

    9 pieces
    Wood Veneer surface texture Wood Veneer Veneer & Engineered Panel

    Real timber, sliced thin and laid over a stable core

    2 pieces

    How These Are Built

    Identified with care

    Each piece's materials are identified from its specifications and read part by part from its product imagery, and we publish only what we can confirm. Care advice is written for the finish and the maintenance routine, so the guidance you read is right for your piece.

    Need A Hand

    Ask before you experiment

    Unsure which material you have, or facing a mark you would rather not test on? Tell us the piece and what you are unsure of; when we reply, you can attach photographs.

    Ask us