What Will Clean Year Of Built Up Wax On Your Furniture

Cleaning antique furniture can make it glow again.

Years ago a client of mine purchased a dining room suite at an auction. Information technology had seen improve days to exist certain and she was understandably concerned nigh the high toll of having the suite professionally re-finished. I suggested an alternative – to clean and re-coat the stop without stripping information technology.

I thought I would share my technique with you. The transformation can be quite amazing.

Scroll to the bottom of this post to meet a picture of before and after I cleaned some millwork in our home using this technique.

Earlier yous utilize this method, which can be used for mill work and cabinetry as well, be enlightened of the following:

• Don't clean furniture that doesn't need information technology. Use these techniques merely if your furniture pieces have grime resulting from too much wax, xanthous nicotine from cigarettes, or  handling with dirty hands. Sure parts of your article of furniture will have a greater build-upwardly than others. For case, chairs will be their grimiest at the acme of the chair rails or on the artillery where hands are placed.

• Don't utilise this technique on pieces that yous know to exist very erstwhile or valuable. The build upward of grime, if rather evenly distributed, hardens with age and can be quite beautiful. This is called patina and it should not exist removed. Just don't add together more wax or the piece will look dull. Save this technique for pieces that are nearly commonly available and for furniture that will exist thrown away if information technology doesn't look improve.
• Y'all may use the cleaning technique for teak piece of furniture but exercise not use a teak or Danish oil that has Urethane or Varathane in it as information technology volition seal the finish, which you don't want.
• Practise on a piece of woods or furniture that you don't care well-nigh. This technique works all-time on pieces of furniture that have their original varnished finish intact.

Cleaned and "Refinished" Dining room chair

Assemble the post-obit: A plastic sheet for the floor, goggles to protect your eyes, heavy prophylactic gloves, a plastic pail, liquid dish soap, liquid ammonia, warm, non hot h2o, vinegar, rags (cotton t-shirts or flannel is all-time), a measuring cup and a plastic/sponge scrubbing tampons like those you lot use for dishes. (better than steel wool as steel wool tin can rust) Use a fan for ventilation if you are not doing this outdoors.

Purchase a litre or quart of a teak or Danish oil product that has Varathane or Urethane in it. I have had the best results with Deft Oil – Danish Oil Finish past Deft.  Cull a shade darker than the colour of your furniture piece. I utilize their Dark Walnut for everything I piece of work on equally I find it to exist a very neutral brown that works for oak, nighttime pine, nighttime mahogany also every bit walnut.

Don't employ an oil with varathane or urethane in it for teak furniture.

Hither is the technique:

1. Place sheeting on floor and put on your rubber gloves and goggles. Measure out ane function ammonia to four parts warm, not hot, h2o into a pail and add a squirt of liquid dish lather. Mix well.
2. Dip one corner of the sponge scrubber into the solution of ammonia, soap and water. Exist careful doing this or the drips will make a mess on the section of furniture you have not yet cleaned. Beginning by gently scrubbing  the furniture starting from the bottom of the slice (legs or feet) and working your fashion upwardly.Work with the grain of the wood. Recollect the point of this do is to dissolve grime so you need to give the solution time to work.
3. Every bit the grime melts wipe the residue off with a make clean cloth. Practise non let the wood stay wet for long. Work in small sections. Your cloth will tell you lot how well the piece of work is progressing. If there is very petty grime on the cloth yous may accept furniture that really does non need much cleaning or your solution is too weak. You lot can experiment by calculation a scrap more ammonia, however don't add together too much or you may remove the finish – especially in parts where the finish is already very thin. It is important that the original cease exist make clean of wax, oils, soot and nicotine otherwise the last product will not stick to the furniture.
4. Once the slice has been thoroughly cleaned rinse it with a solution of water and vinegar and wipe dry. Let dry overnight. Your furniture may wait dull at this betoken but that will modify.
5. On the adjacent solar day, create a French pad by folding a make clean material into a small square that yous can fit easily into the palm of your hand. Pour Deft oil into a shallow basin and place the pad into the oil. It is not necessary to soak the entire pad – you need just enough to wipe onto the clean forest surface. Wipe the pad onto the furniture,  working with the grain of the wood. Immediately  wipe the excess with a clean cloth. Practice this over the entire particular. Replace your wiping cloth when it gets too muddied. Let dry at least a calendar week if you lot intend to wax the slice.

This is an example of the before and later furnishings of cleaning 100 yr former millwork with this technique.

So there you lot have it. Some final tips: If some parts of the slice look dull compared to others information technology may be considering the finish was completely gone. In that case the Deft oil has been absorbed into the wood. It means that yous volition have to build upward the finish in those dull areas.

Oh, I forgot. The last thing yous need to do:

6. Stand back and admire your work!

Source: https://fromtimespast.com/2013/09/20/5-steps-to-cleaning-grimy-antique-furniture/

Posted by: stevensonlacke1953.blogspot.com

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