Cleaning minefield

[RedQueenie]

Hi not sure if I'm walking into a bit of a minefield on this one, but I was hoping someone could explain when to use methylated spirits or white spirits or vinegar or boiled linseed either singularly or as a combination?
I'm trying to perk up some furniture my nana and grandpa have given me. It's mostly oak I think. I don't want to make it look brand new or paint it but rather bring out it naturally aged beauty. I like the look of wax and oil finishes. When I've had a quick search on the internet I found all combinations of the above, with equal arguments as to which to use and not use it's making my head spin. Could someone give a bit of a dummies guide as to what to use when and why?

 

[skeetstar]

I wouldn't use linseed oil for cleaning, but if you have the timber reaqdy for finishing then Linseed oil is great.I use BLO since it dries quicker. You can mix it it with white spirit. I understand that this thins the oil down, aids penetration, and then the white sprits evaporate off leaving you the oil. you'll want several coats, wiping off any excess that hasn't soaked in between coats.

You'll need to make sure you have stripped any varnishes etc off the wood before you start coating with oil though.

 

[peter-harrison]

I worked as an antique restorer for many years and my standard cleaning mixture was white spirit:meths:linseed oil, equal amounts, shaken well and often as it separates almost instantly. Of the three, the oil doesn't evaporate, so if you don't want it on the finished article, don't use it. This solution works well with most dirt etc except things that are mainly soluble in water. Meths dissolves French polish and shellac, so the mixture will damage those finishes if it's left on them too long.

 

[ED65]

When I've had a quick search on the internet I found all combinations of the above, with equal arguments as to which to use and not use it's making my head spin.

No surprise there. You can read just a handful of guides and end up with more than a dozen concoctions to pick from and it does get a bit overwhelming.

But the huge range of published formulas, and the many who people swear by different ones, does provide an important hint: it doesn't matter much what you use. Cue cries of outrage from people who have their favourite cleaners

The goal is generally to clean the surface of the furniture of the usual contaminants, dust and grime/greasy residues which are generally from human contact, and the bottom line is there are a host of ways you can do this effectively.

Could someone give a bit of a dummies guide as to what to use when and why?

Rather than get into a few of the various formulas containing meths, white spirit, vinegar and BLO, a bit of their history (published recipes or 'receipts' go back to the 19th century, and a few survive unchanged to today) and what is still worth using today you can keep it simple and not use any of them if you like.

A good starting point cleaning all furniture is as basic as it comes, dust the pieces first to get off as much of the dry and loose stuff on the surface as you can. That way if you're next going to clean wet you're not unnecessarily turning that dirt into a slurry, one that collects in corners and can get worked into scratches, dings and into the grain of the wood itself. A duster (feather or synthetic), clean dustpan brush, a dust rag and maybe an old toothbrush all have their place here.

Now wet cleaning, if needed. A good place to begin is simply warm to hand-hot soapy water; this can be made using shaved hand soap or Fairy liquid, it doesn't matter much although traditionalists will insist you should use soap. Your cloth or sponge should be well wrung out. It's a good idea to have a second, dry, cloth in your other hand to wipe each surface or section dry as you go.

I think you'll be surprised at how good a job just this will do.

But don't be afraid to clean a second time with soapy water, mixed fresh if necessary. It's often surprising how much more filth comes off in a second round of cleaning!

Now before you do anything else you need to let the furniture dry fully, which takes a couple of hours to overnight.

Then you can assess how it looks and decide what to do next. If the finish was really tired the piece may look quite a state at this point – very dry or parched, especially along edges that saw the most wear – but a coat or two of paste wax can work wonders.

 

[AndyT]

A mixture can work nicely.
This thread has some examples
old-tool-cleaning-part-4-general-cleaning-with-reviver-t64945.html

And for some furniture examples

revival-success-t101538.html

refinishing-water-damage-t104015.html

 

[Phil Pascoe]

In case you've read it somewhere or been advised to do it - don't use wire wool. Use a nylon scourer instead - the steel breaks down and lodges in the open grain of the oak staining a nice shade of blue black because of the tannin.

 

[RedQueenie]

Thank you all so much for your replies. The reviver formula makes a bit more sense and I never knew about wire wool causing staining. One other question is there a thing about not using Briwax? In one of the threads, AndyT sent me Briwax seemed to be the enemy. As I eventually want to use a wax (possibly oil) finish could someone suggest what I use? Or would I not need anything if the reviver contained linseed oil?
So sorry to be a nuisance with all the questions.

 

[will1983]

Liberon Black Bison Wax my friend. This stuff is awesome and it smells lovely to boot!

 

[AndyT]

My take on it is this.
I associate Briwax with the sort of cheap shops in the 80s and 90s who would strip "pine" furniture and then slather on a load of wax to conceal blotches and even out the colour. There's a lot of colour in the wax. It got used on pale new softwood to make it look old at first glance.
Also, it smells pretty terrible. So although it might be a really effective product, I've never bought any.

With an example like the mahogany shelf, the oil in the revival mixture was enough to give a nice sheen.

I think with this sort of project you need to follow your own preferences and experiment if you can. I also like to use things I have rather than buy one of everything available.

 

[RedQueenie]

Okay. Think I'm ready to give it a whirl. I'm going to start with this bureau which I'm hoping to get done before Christmas. On looking at it it looks like it's already been stripped. It seems to be really dry. Do you think I'll need to use the reviver? Or just a quick spruce with wax? It does have a couple of dodgy looking stains.

 

[AndyT]

It looks like the piece is clean but without any finish at all, so your options are open.
The choice depends on how you want it to look, how much protection you need from the finish and how much time and money you want to spend.

If it was mine, I'd want it to look a bit darker and richer in colour and I would be taking care not to spill wine or coffee on it, so I would probably use linseed oil. But I'd also consider a modern hard wax oil such as Osmo Poly-x - it's dearer but tougher.

Those are just finishes I have some experience of, but there are many more options.

 

[RedQueenie]

Perfect, thank you for all your help. I'll let you know how I get on

 

[AndyT]

One other thing. In well made furniture, staining preceded finishing so as to get different pieces of wood to match in colour and tone.
If you strip everything off an old piece, you may be exposing pieces of wood which don't match at all well. Just putting a finish on top may emphasize the differences and spoil the overall appearance.
I'm not saying this applies to your bureau, just that it's another complication to be aware of.

 

[JimB]

I remember my auntie using vinegar mixed with something - linseed I think. However she also still washed dishes in washing soda, knocked hell out of her hands!

 

[ED65]

...it looks like it's already been stripped. It seems to be really dry.

Yes that looks bare as a bare thing. The white stains (paint spill?) are unfortunate but other than that it's a clean slate, pun intended.

Do you think I'll need to use the reviver?

I don't think it's warranted here, no finish to revive, and I'd caution against its unthinking use on the other items too. This is for a number of reasons but one is if you include the ammonia, this poses an additional potential risk as ammonia darkens oak through a chemical reaction.

I didn't want to get into this above but that family of revivers is specifically one that many pros now warn against using on furniture, not exclusively but especially when dealing with old pieces that do still have most of their film finish intact but with bare areas (which get oiled and then look darker). A few of the professionals here have warned of this in past threads, best example I could find, and if that needs more backup, here's Donald C. Williams, Senior Furniture Conservator, at the Smithsonian Institution on the subject:

Traditionally, cleaning/polishing concoctions were comprised of linseed oil, turpentine, beeswax, and vinegar (acetic acid). This cleaning/polishing method, used widely even in the museum field until recently, was and is a disaster waiting to happen.

For anyone interested he goes on to specifically sing the praises of paste wax for furniture upkeep.

Now back to the desk, it's completely up to you what you do but I personally wouldn't wax this as I'd never use wax straight on bare wood for any furniture item that will see much use, others do but it was never considered best practice back in the day to directly wax wood and the reasons given are sound.

For best protection I would suggest using diluted varnish AKA wiping varnish, wiping away the excess each of each coat. After three coats the wood should look excellent; you can build up more as you like but three is a good minimum as a rule of thumb (two often being not quite enough for a consistent finish).

This gives much the same look as oil followed by wax, but far greater protection on all fronts while being much, much faster. There's really no comparison in terms of time, it's the difference between mere days and months, not including 'drying' time (varnishes take about a month to fully harden up).

 

[RedQueenie]

Hiya thank you for giving me another take on things. Could you recommend a wiping varnish? I was thinking of giving it a bit of a sand first, to see if it would get rid or at least make some of the stains less visible but also to close the grain a bit which I'm guessing is because it's so dry.