Caring For Furniture

[oxydolfan]

If this message is deemed inappropriate, please delete it, but I was wondering, after seeing all the beautifully-maintained rooms on this forum....

I'm cleaning up my place, after having neglected it for too long.

All my wood's been cleaned, all dust, grime, and excess layers washed away, and I'm getting ready to polish.

I have three products:

Weiman Lemon Oil (pourable, in a bottle)
Hagerty's Vernax Polish with Beeswax (pourable, in a can)
Oz Cream Polish (pourable, in a can)
"Orange-Glo" Furniture Polish (spray bottle-never used before)

Does anyone have any comments regarding which product would be the best to use, before I start?

I'd like to use the same product consistently, but have had a lot of conflicting advice.

I have a lot of oak and walnut, highly varnished, but not antiques.

I don't mind going to added effort, if it yields results. On the other hand, I don't want to be a slave to my furniture, either.

Does anyone have anything to share, regarding these types of products?

I'm not a big fan of sprays like Pledge, Behold, and such, because I've found they build up over time.

Does anyone know of a magic product that is superior to the ones I've listed here?

 

[dalangdon]

Although I HATE the smell of it, I've had good luck with Scott's Liquid Gold.

Some say you're supposed to go by the old formula of once a day for a week, one a week for a month, and once a month thereafter, but I just go over everything with Liquid Gold each Saturday morning while I'm washing the sheets and towels.

But I'm not a hard core housekeeper. Everyone always comments on how clean the house is (which is usually a cue for one of the dogs to throw up ;-), but I find too much fussing with it leads to trouble ;-)

 

[oxydolfan]

Thanks. Is that a spray or a pourable-type polish?

 

[neptunebob]

Actually, you might want to stop at a musical instrument store for Martin Guitar Polish. I don't think it builds up as badly as Pledge. Oxydolfan were you in the military? Reason I ask, my brother was in the Air Force and he found that he could do a lot of clean up detail with Pledge because it gave everything an Air Force Shine. After basic training he said: "That Pledge is such a great product, It got me out of sooo much detail"

P.S. He just told me, whatever you do don't get that AAFEES spray polish, it is NOT Pledge!

 

[oxydolfan]

Nope-the only male member of my family who didn't serve.

Thanks to you, and to your brother for his advice, and also for his service.

Maybe I will try all of these products on one piece, let them dry, and just see what works best, and damp-dust everything else.

I have a lot of stuff jammed into my little place, and it's too much of a production to polish everything, just to have to start over with something else.

But, yeah, I clean my bathroom mirror with shaving cream and all that, I've Pledged my shoes and boots in a rush, yep, guilty of all those little tricks, lol!

 

[thor]

Old wood care

My grandmother (who was born in 1890 and is long gone now) had beautiful wood furniture scattered all around her house. She would only use one product to shine them up: she would wrap a few walnuts (unshelled, of course) inside a small piece of soft cloth, smash them hard with a hammer, and polished all furniture with the "oily" cloth. It worked beautifully! Besides giving the furniture a spectacular protective shine the walnut oil kept all type of insect plagues away from the wood too.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

Pledge contains a lot of silicone.
Silicone contamiation can make furniture refinishing difficult.

Ken

 

[toggleswitch]

I'm sure silicone is not so good leaking into the bloodstream either.

 

[gansky1]

What I've Heard

I have a good friend that worked in a furniture refinishing shop for many years. He always said to use oil products (lemon oil, mineral oil, citrus oils, etc.) in cautious moderation and only if absolutely necessary because you can't afford to refinish the piece. Over-use of oil products as polish will eventually dissolve the finish making it dull. A good finish on furniture should rarely need more than a quick wipe with a damp cloth to clean soils. For added shine a little Guardsman polish now and then goes a long way and won't build up. It comes in different forms, I like the spray bottle rather than the aerosol.

http://www.guardsman.com/guardsman/furniture_care/category.jsp?cat_id=3&mv=2

 

[launderess]

Despite what legions of housewives over the years have been taught, one does not and should not subject fine wood to routine polishing.

All fine wood furniture and like are sealed after finishing. The application of waxes and oils cannot really penetrate a proper seal, so they just lie on the surface dulling the shine and attracting more dirt,dust and soils.

Dusting with a barely damp cloth (damp, not wet) is fine, as is any cloth lightly treated with any "clean" oil. The purpose here is not to apply oil to the wood, but rather make the cloth more efficient at trapping dust/soils and removing smudges.

Where the housewives were correct is in that dust left on fine wood can damage the finish. However electrostatic dusting cloths or "Swiffers" are fine for everyday dusting.

L.

 

[sheerlookhomes]

spray on to the cloth

for effective once a week cleaning and polishing it is much wiser to spray your polish onto your cloth, then apply...try it, I did, and it is a more gentle way. Less clouds of unnecessary chemicals and just as effective

 

[oxydolfan]

I'm not big on spray cans....

Truthfully, I never use those aerosol products, not for environmental concerns, but because I feel as though I'm paying for air....

I think I'm gonna reserve the "Orange Glo" in the pump bottle for the tiles and shower door in the bathroom, after I power-scrub and re-caulk this week....it's an extra step to do it, but it all keeps up amazingly well that way.

I'll probably use the Weiman lemon oil on the real wood and the Hagerty cream on the composite stuff....leaving the Oz to stand in for the Jubilee for the kitchen and the appliances.....provided my "Product Disappearance Conspiracy" doesn't go into effect before I buy more...

(paging Alex Jones, lol?)

Believe it or not, this may seem like a big production, but once I get organized, my routine runs like clockwork...

 

[wcd63]

polishes I like.

Hi
I have used the vernax for years and like the results and the way the house smells after.in between I do the damp cloth wipe and buff with a dry cloth and always have nice shiney furnature. I do the waxing with Vernax about once a month.I dont like Pledge at all! the best ones are Behold and Fava and I can use them when I am in a hurry like to day when I had to have the house up and ready for open house.they do not leave a dulling film on the vernax liks pledge seens to do.I apsolutely hate end dust unless I have wood floors and put it on the dust mop for a quickey polish. The utmost best wax I have used with my mother as a kid is the Godders lavender past wax. elcellant.hard to find though same with Vernax. next best if you cant find eather ones is the Johnsons Bolling Alley wax. very good and is very tough and you can spray a fine mist of water on it and wipe it off and have a great shine left behind.

 

[tlee618]

So where does one find the Vernax polish? Sounds like a great product.

 

[launderess]

Pipe:

http://nancysilver.com/care_prods/items/hag_vernax.htm

 

[rickr]

I have quite a lot of antique furnishings. I only polish twice yearly. Spring and Fall. Too much is not good. Just use a feather duster in between.
On natural wood finishes I use an oil. On varnished wood I use wax. That includes wax on the woodwork in my house also.

My father had a housekeeper, after mother died. She was spraying Liquid Gold all over everything. I tried to play their piano one day, and my fingers kept slipping off the keys! That stuff was horrible! It made everything shine, but everything in the house felt greasy. One day she sprayed down the toilet seat with the Liquid Gold and I almost "slipped" off. I made my dad fire her, and we hired someone else after that.

 

[launderess]

I'd pay good money to see someone "slide" off a commode seat "oiled" with too much Liquid Gold. Heck I'd pay good money to find out why the woman felt the need to polish the commode seat for a start.

*LOL*

L.

 

[tolivac]

I would think spraying "Liquid Gold" into the piano Keyboard could do bad things for the pianos action besides making the keyboard slippery.Hope that houskeeper doesn't spray the Liquid Gold into electronic keyboards!!

 

[rickr]

Ref: Bad housekeeper

Oh she was just an idiot! I don't really think she was cleaning anything. She must have thought if something shined it looked clean. She may have fooled my father, but did not fool me.
As for the piano, I certanly agree, and was not happy about that! Not at all good to spray ANYTHING on the keyboard.
I have that same piano in my home now. It is a 1912 Chickering upright grand player. (Chickering was Steinways nearest competitor back in the day) I had a professional restoration done on it 1999. If someone were to come along and spray it with Liquid Gold now, I would be up for murder one. lol!