Submitted by cynycal t3_123cmpx in BuyItForLife
While not valuable, I have rooms full of old wood pieces I'd like to spruce up. I've been through a few products, even using the exta-fine wool business, and they are as dull as ever. Surely there's a better way than sending everything to a refinishers, no?
Wood varities of many types with different types of coatings. Items are: piano; poster-bed; roll-top; end tables and dressers, etc
Can confirm Howard Feed n Wax is excellent for reviving very old dry wood. Smells fantastic too.
/r/restoration/ or /r/furniturerestoration/ is where you want to be, not here.
I'm not sure, just by that sub name, but you're obliging me to look' ;)
Have you ever looked into wood wax?
Not after I read that you have to remove before redoing. Have you?
My in laws use it religiously. More time consuming, but polish and wax give two different effects.
Its worth it, I used it in both wood and metal shops lots of times, its a lot of work but the shine is gorgeous. For steel, apply warm.
What do you uses to remove? Buff by hand?
By hand with a cotton rag, put some passion in to it for best results.
As the saying goes (at least in my language) no shine without friction.
What product?
Dont remember the brand name, but it was a beeswax based furniture product
honestly just a slightly damp lint-free cloth is fine.
there's really no substitute for having something refinished if it's damaged. you can address stain and sheen at that time.
I have one antique I do that or less to. I won't put anything on it. It's my most valuable piece and it has suffered none in appearance.
I am not too precious with anything I own (I have 3 cats and my house looks like people live in it) but I do wipe down the furniture or dust it. I used to grease everything up with OE because I liked the smell and it was a carry-over from childhood, but my mom told me to stop doing it. the different antiques dealers she works with all say not to use that stuff on it. i've had a few things refinished over the years, but mostly i'm waiting for that one day when i've reached peak maturity and I won't scratch up furniture anymore before I get anything else refinished...yeah right
I use orange oil on all of my teak.
Murphy’s oil soap undiluted and applied directly to the surface of the wood (but that’s for after renovation).
I thought of putting essential orange oil into a cleaning product. What do you do?
I buy strait orange oil furniture spray. I think I bought it at Home depot or Wal mart. It comes in a spray bottle similar to windex.
The wood soaks it up and it makes the house smell great.
Beeswax.
That’s what I would suggest.
Mohawk furniture polish is my go-to. It's a little pricey, but totally worth it. They also have scratch hider spray that works amazingly well. It saved me from having to replace $30k worth of cabinets.
Honestly Old English cabinet polish did wonders for our poorly maintained hand me down piano (and came recommended by the tuner, so seems unlikely it would mess too much with sound/tone/humidity for more delicate pieces). Easy to find in a hardware store, I would recommend this if you want to keep some of the antique look (ie not completly sand down/refinish) but still want to even out color and tone.
Regular old English contains silicone, you don't want to use that, because it will cause refinishing issues even decades down the line.
Huh TIL. Can you expand on what issues the silicone causes?
It's super slick and oily, and is almost impossible to remove. It can cause lacquer to break down over time. Even if you strip it all off, it's so sticky that tiny amounts can remain. These small amounts can cause fish-eye in a new finish if it's applied over top of it. Mohawk furniture polish is my favorite for my antiques, because it works well, and doesn't contain silicone.
Good to know, thanks!
arestelle t1_jdv7u2l wrote
My mom's refinished wood furniture as a hobby for decades; I'm certain she would strip and refinish them with tung oil - low gloss, very thin coats, brings out gorgeous luster in the grain.
ETA: I don't know if it can go on any kind of finish, but Howard Feed n Wax is nice for conditioning