Featured Insight on furniture preservation and polishing

Discussion in 'Antique Discussion' started by AmericanGeode, Jun 28, 2019.

  1. AmericanGeode

    AmericanGeode Well-Known Member

    This is one group who probably knows this, but in case there is one person helped by this tip, it is worth posting. We have a lot of antique furniture, mirrors, all wood. We reserve the "Bee's Wax" for something very old or quite dirty, as that "Bee's Wax" is pricey.
    For everything else, even a George III game table we have here, in great shape, we use "Lemon Pledge."

    Hope this is helpful advice. We share it a lot with clients who are worried about caring for an antique.
     
  2. clutteredcloset49

    clutteredcloset49 Well-Known Member

    Howards makes an orange oil cleaner and a feed n wax. Both reasonably priced and much better products for wood.

    @verybrad and @James Conrad
    will have other recommendations.
     
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  3. say_it_slowly

    say_it_slowly The worst prison is a closed heart

    I don't know if it's as good as some but I make my own bee's wax polish. I use bee's wax candles and when they get short I melt them in the microwave with some food grade mineral oil. I think some people use different oil such as olive.
     
  4. gregsglass

    gregsglass Well-Known Member

    Hi,
    I use a good shoe polish. Many colors just be sure not to use any quick shine stuff.
    greg
     
  5. verybrad

    verybrad Well-Known Member

    I am a firm believer in furniture paste wax. I prefer Johnson's, partly due to cost, but as good or better than some of the pricier brands.
     
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  6. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    I won't use any kind of PLedge. It builds a nasty silicon layer. Beeswax is great stuff and you only need a smidgen, done properly. I've also got a bottle of a good pro polish, which I've had so long that I've forgotten the name of it.
     
  7. Bakersgma

    Bakersgma Well-Known Member

    Lemon Pledge??? Ewwwwwwwwww!
     
  8. clutteredcloset49

    clutteredcloset49 Well-Known Member

    That's what I wanted to say, but didn't want to step on any toes.

    My first response was "bad advice". Came back and edited it out.

    I'll second your response. Ewwwwwwwww!
     
  9. Ghopper1924

    Ghopper1924 Well-Known Member

    Pledge and some of the other mass-market products also have a stain in the mixture that looks nice in the short run but that will artificially darken furniture over time. Avoid. Paste wax is the way to go. And remember.......when you get a "new" piece, it's "once a week for a month, once a month for a year, and once a year thereafter."
    Or something like that....:rolleyes:
     
    Any Jewelry, komokwa and pearlsnblume like this.
  10. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    I hardly ever polish. I do run my hands over wood, often and use an old silk scarf to dust them.
     
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  11. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    Ditto, good stuff & easily removed if needed. I would stay away from Pledge & other products that have additives for above reasons.
    For interior bare wood surfaces i use "soft wax", a traditional French recipe keeps the drawers running smoothly, i get it from Etsy but you can make your own as it only contains beeswax, turpentine, spirits.
     
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  12. pearlsnblume

    pearlsnblume Well-Known Member

    Oh dear, Pledge. Ir was my mother's favorite choice for our mid century furniture and beyond. That and lemon oil liquid stuff in a bottle. Ugh! She used way to much and you could slide a drink across a table with no problem. They were not kidding about it being oil. She didn't think a dab would do ya. LOL

    And while I comment about too much, she loved Chlorox Bleach for the bathroom and kitchen floors and that stuff always always gave me a headache. This was a case of too much bleach to bear.
     
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  13. 808 raver

    808 raver Well-Known Member

    I live in the UK where old furniture is everywhere (if you like old furniture that is ;) ) When I started collecting antiques I'd just moved from a small house in London to a large house on the coast, I hadn't taken any furniture with me so the whole house needed to be furnished. This is when I started learning to restore and refinish the furniture that now fills every nook and cranny, I learnt to strip the old polish off with methylated spirits and wire wool, I learnt to fill the grain with a mixture of pumice powder and french polish (it's not really the pumice that fills the grain it's the fine sawdust the pumice creates) I learnt to use a mop and fad and give the piece many, many, many, coats flicking mineral oil to stop the fad from sticking, I then learnt to use a very fine wire wool and black wax to antique the piece and then (this is the relevant bit) I would use antiquax wax to finish off the piece, the result of doing this allowed me to fill the house with wonderful pieces at not a great deal of cost. Every now and again I put a small smear of antiquax wax on the piece leave it for a few minutes then buff it off, the depth of shine is just fantastic, I still haven't used all the first tin of wax I bought and that was 10 years ago. He wasn't who I learnt off but if anyone wants to learn how to do this then "The English polisher" on youtube is your man....

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOrK3MilHje_oQahoCJEEWQ/videos

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Antiquax-5...ocphy=1007006&hvtargid=pla-684501573103&psc=1
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2019
    cxgirl likes this.
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