What is Best to Use on Antique Furniture?

[kelt65]

how do you get oil out of oranges and lemons anyway ? I think they are more acidic? it must be a marketing scheme.

you can wax if you like. my favorite is a 1:1:1 ratio of linseed oil and turpentine and vinegar. mix it well ( yes the vinegar separated , that's ok,. just shake it , pad it on with a bit of tee shirt or something then take a piece of clean cotton tee shirt and rub every bit off that you can. both methods will give you a bit of shine and take out the whitish scratches that make it look like it "needs something" . just dont leave it sticky with the stuff, dry it down.

or carnuba wax, not my first choice, try not to use it on bits where it will get trapped like carvings. stay away from any finish that has silicone. If it doesn't say on the can it doesn't contain silicone , assume it does. silicone will cause issues if the piece ever needs to be refinished. pledge and armor all have silicone and many other off the shelf products..

Citrus oils are cleaners, and aren't in any way restorative to wood, they just take weeks to dry and give the wood a wet look in the meantime. I definitely wouldn't put linseed or tung oil on anything but bare wood ... otherwise you are in effect putting a new finish on top of the finish ... drying oils like that are finishes, right?

I thought this article was helpful

http://www.antiquetrader.com/featured/i ... not-really

[phil]

the secret is in the wiping off well , that is an important step not an option.

. If it has shellac or lacquer or something else on it , the linseed oil and turps won't be able to penetrate and will be completely wiped away at the stage where it is rubbed down. and blemishes or scratches will take a bit of the oil finish. If the piece in fact has an oil finish it might accept a bit more. I'm not convinced the piece has no finish now. You only see furniture in that state if it is just made or if it has been stripped.. of maybe straight out of the ikea box lol..

I read the article , it's one persons opinion but I dont' fully agree. the suggestion of using 99 percent vinegar is silly and of using vegetable oil. also he comments about leaving the oil on to attract dirt, He doesn't get the part about drying it down fully as a last step. Yea if you glopped oil on it and went away you'd make a sticky mess. The "feeding of wood" is a play on words. Yes the tree is dead at the point it is fallen. Often people refer to restoring the finish as "feeding the wood" because it actually does at least in some cases, absorb product.

if you apply turps/linseed oil to a previously finished piece. and take care to fully rub it out with dry clean cloths, the only place the finish stays on is where there are voids in the surface. these are scratches in the finish or microscopic voids, tiny scratches you can't really see , but they make the piece look dull.. They may be tiny rough spots or scratches right through the original finish. So what you are doing is just refinishing but just where the scratches are really. Its just occasional maintenance not really what I would term as refinishing. even a heavy gouge will hide itself quite well.

the vinegar isn't part of the finish , it is in thee so as you do this procedure you also do a light cleaning of the piece. You can leave it out but it is in there to prevent you from burying dirt under the oil. of course you wouldn't wipe linseed oil over a really dirty piece if it is dirty you'd clean it first. .

But if you like, try both! Im not really fond of a lot of wax. I guess it has it's place.

where furniture shops get naughty is using things like car wax on antiques. it happens often. silicone. they know about the refinishing issues but don't care, they just want to get as much as they can.

I guess you can finish over wax or you can strip the wax and refinish. It just isn't my favorite finish, but if you like it , use it. I'd be more tempted on something flat like a table than a pierce with a lot of crevices like a carving. If you use oil and can't wipe it out efficiently try dabbing it with a clean paintbrush with a bit of cotton between the piece and the brush you can kind of dab it into things like carvings. .

overall I dont' see a lot of issues with the piece in the photo. my eye just goes to the pretty girl in the mirror !

[kelt65]

the secret is in the wiping off well , that is an important step not an option.

. If it has shellac or lacquer or something else on it , the linseed oil and turps won't be able to penetrate and will be completely wiped away at the stage where it is rubbed down. and blemishes or scratches will take a bit of the oil finish. If the piece in fact has an oil finish it might accept a bit more. I'm not convinced the piece has no finish now. You only see furniture in that state if it is just made or if it has been stripped.. of maybe straight out of the ikea box lol..

I read the article , it's one persons opinion but I dont' fully agree. the suggestion of using 99 percent vinegar is silly and of using vegetable oil. also he comments about leaving the oil on to attract dirt, He doesn't get the part about drying it down fully as a last step. Yea if you glopped oil on it and went away you'd make a sticky mess. The "feeding of wood" is a play on words. Yes the tree is dead at the point it is fallen. Often people refer to restoring the finish as "feeding the wood" because it actually does at least in some cases, absorb product.

if you apply turps/linseed oil to a previously finished piece. and take care to fully rub it out with dry clean cloths, the only place the finish stays on is where there are voids in the surface. these are scratches in the finish or microscopic voids, tiny scratches you can't really see , but they make the piece look dull.. They may be tiny rough spots or scratches right through the original finish. So what you are doing is just refinishing but just where the scratches are really. Its just occasional maintenance not really what I would term as refinishing. even a heavy gouge will hide itself quite well.

the vinegar isn't part of the finish , it is in thee so as you do this procedure you also do a light cleaning of the piece. You can leave it out but it is in there to prevent you from burying dirt under the oil. of course you wouldn't wipe linseed oil over a really dirty piece if it is dirty you'd clean it first. .

But if you like, try both! Im not really fond of a lot of wax. I guess it has it's place.

where furniture shops get naughty is using things like car wax on antiques. it happens often. silicone. they know about the refinishing issues but don't care, they just want to get as much as they can.

I guess you can finish over wax or you can strip the wax and refinish. It just isn't my favorite finish, but if you like it , use it. I'd be more tempted on something flat like a table than a pierce with a lot of crevices like a carving. If you use oil and can't wipe it out efficiently try dabbing it with a clean paintbrush with a bit of cotton between the piece and the brush you can kind of dab it into things like carvings. .

overall I dont' see a lot of issues with the piece in the photo. my eye just goes to the pretty girl in the mirror !

WRT oil attracting dirt I think the author was talking about non-drying oils, like the citrus oils. I personally like the dull look of a little wax.

[phil]

wax would be fine on that piece too, but I would keep it out of the carved areas.

also if a piece is too shiny, say it was just lacquered. sometimes it just looks too shiny to be an antique. I like to use wool lube, which is just basically a soap with slippery properties. I use that with fine ( like 000) or extra fine steel wool and do a rubdown, gently pressing with the wet steel wool. It leaves a finish that is smooth to the touch, but glancing light doesn't reflect off it and scream refinished. you can put flatting agents in your lacquer ( or buy semi gloss) to get a similar semigloss look but I find the rubdown also helps remove or hide tiny irregularities in the finish. a poor man's option to a proper spray booth

depending on the project I will sometimes use the steel wool or fine wet or dry sandpaper to apply the oil. I wouldn't do this on a previously finished piece but if the piece is an oil finish this can be done multiple times to result in an extremely beautiful finish, one that I much prefer to burying the wood in shellac or lacquer or poly.

It's considerable work for larger items but if you say make something small like perhaps a gunstock made of black walnut, or something like that. You will see how the ribbon and figure in the grain comes to life. ( here we go pretending it is alive again right?;-) This dresser isn't something I would do that to because I think there is some sort of finish on it. Once done you can't scratch the ( oil) finish off because it is part of the wood instead of on top of the wood.

also like in the instance of a gun , it might come into contact with solvents or chemicals or water, that if it were shellac or lacquer might be damaged, also it is something that would be quite susceptible to being bumped , more so than a table. I know nothing about guns really but it was an example of where I'd use that sort of finish. Many coats , many sandings with fine sandpaper and oil and rub down at the end of your session. keep doing that every once in a while. You wouldn't want to keep removing a gunstock to refinish it, but you'd want to maintain the finish.. the beauty of it is you need no special equipment, just fine paper and your choice of oil.

[SouthernLady]

Bless you, Phil.

What would be the best thing to use on a surface that sees moderate use, such as my kitchen table? I use placemats and coasters with the table setting, and I usually serve buffet style from the kitchen counter bar for now (one day that sucker is coming out to go back to the original open floor plan).

This surface sees occasional water (wiped up quickly--glass condensation).

[kelt65]

Often people refer to restoring the finish as "feeding the wood" because it actually does at least in some cases, absorb product.

Yes we know it is figurative language, the problem is, it doesn't mean anything and it doesn't impart any useful knowledge to anyone. Statements like that infuriate me, actually, when someone says "wood needs to be nourished" or "the masonry needs to breathe". Nonsense. Tell me what is happening if you want to be useful. Otherwise, you're spreading ignorance. Now, if you say, "the masonry needs to be vapour permeable, and not sealed, or it will crack", you've imparted some useful knowlege! How hard was that?

[Mick_VT]

"the masonry needs to be vapour permeable, and not sealed, or it will crack", you've imparted some useful knowlege! How hard was that?

But, but, it's poetic!

[Al F. Furnituremaker]

Nothing annoys me more when the ignorant say the wood needs to be fed. That tree died a long time ago. The super market store shelves are full of BS.

[Casey]

Sometimes a full-on piano polish is appropriate:


Behold french polished shellac.
Casey

[phil]

Bless you, Phil.

What would be the best thing to use on a surface that sees moderate use, such as my kitchen table? I use placemats and coasters with the table setting, and I usually serve buffet style from the kitchen counter bar for now (one day that sucker is coming out to go back to the original open floor plan).

This surface sees occasional water (wiped up quickly--glass condensation).

well it is quite a general question and I don't thing there is a general answer , because if you were to refinish the table you'd also have to consider , if it was an antique, how old, what would be an appropriate finish for that table in your circumstances.

if you have kids and lots of accidents , sticky fingers and you want it to be able to withstand say a spill that wasn't cleaned up for an hour then poly would be a good finish, but if it was a nice antique table everyone would scream if you put poly on it and wrecked it's value. most production firniture from the early 30's on to the 70's was lacquer. lacquer needs to be treated with more respect, you can wipe it with a damp cloth , that's fine but a spill left on it or a spill of an alcoholic beverage would damage it.

my table has a fairly imperfect finish but it is shellac and it's an old table. it works fine , I can wipe it but if I put a hot drink down on it the cup sticks to the table.

I have lots of antique radios and most are lacquer. since they are about my house , often people will put hot coffee mugs on them and that will leave a ring. lots of people haven't been around furniture that is so easily damaged so it takes some education or at least handy coasters on the radios.. I am not going to poly them !

we have a table from the 50s, it is a fold up affair, I often saw the same one on I love Lucy. it has seen a lot of wear and at some point the lacquer got scratched up and someone took whatever remaining lacquer off with a scraper and put an oil finish on it. the oil stands up better because it can be renewed, but it isn't original to the table and I wouldn't do that to something that was valuable. the best restoration of that table would have been lacquer but the oil finish was ok and i could say well the table paid for itself and care about it more as a useful object and not so much as a collectable antique so I don't feel bad at all that it was changed to an oil finish.

If the table has value as an antique you probably shouldn't change the finish. I have a big table that was made in about the 50's I think . it is a true canadain machine made table with a very solid frame. It's venerer but I think teak or maybe maple for the structure. .Queen anne style legs, made by Baetz furniture some of the last of the "true furniture" before they used particleboard and stuff..

I have been advertising it for 300.00 and it isn't moving. the top is lacquer but it could use re-spraying because the finish has some blush or cloudiness and a lot of crazing. the leaves never saw light so they are much lighter than the rest of the table. I can't refinish that table and profit from it because big tables aren't really in high demand but if I had all the chatirs and the matching hutch then it would be more worthwhile. If I really wanted to use it I'd have someone re-spray it. but I still wouldn't have the heart to change it's original finish type. it's too big for my kitchen and it isn't very high in value.

the ones that baffle me most as far as price goes are old wash stands or work tables from laundry rooms. with milk paint, they go for crazy prices ! and the other is early Canadian or early American. usually it isn't anywhere near the quality of the furniture from Europe but the prices are quite high, that's supply and demand at work.



I think you need to ID the finish you have, probably lacquer, and for that the best solution is probably to repair the lacquer finish and keep using it. if you change anything original about an antique it will devalue it. From what you said about place mats I think you are already protecting it. a furniture shop could likely re-spray it for you and amalgamate the old finish into a new finish, but you need to ID what you have exactly to answer the question properly.

personally I really like old oak or hardwoods with oil finishes. barley twist and stickly style fiurniture.. I want an atmosphere where people can feel right at home and dont' have to use coasters or placemats. I hate asking people to take better care, I find it insulting. I like antiques, but I like the kind of feel of an old pub or a farmhouse where it is well worn and you can't really harm anything easily, but that isn't for every one. some want the nice finish and fancy table cloths. and to put out the silverware for everyone with matching cups. Im ok with every person having a different plate or even different knife and fork and if most are antiques that's cool. what I have is a mixture of antiques, and that's ok too.. some want all dusty rose, I am ok with every cup being different. I think it adds interest and allows me to just replace anything broken without worry that it doesn't match the set. those rogue tea cups need to find a home somewhere

Phil