Whitewash lane cedar chest yellowed

Whitewash lane cedar chest yellowed after 50 years in the basement.

The yellow could be from old wax and polish. If not, the cedar chest will need to be refinished to remove the yellow in the old finish.

A light sanding inside will rejuvenate the smell inside the cedar chest.

Whitewash lane cedar chest yellowed

Email question:

Hi, I recently came across my mothers hope chest. It is by Lane, all cedar inside and the outside is terribly yellow. My mother said it was a light/ white wash kind of finish, but being down the basement for 50 years, it turned yellow. I want to refinish it...(if that is what you call it)..I just want it to look nice...(not yellow) but i dont know if i can achieve the white/wash look again, or if i have to stain it. How do I go about getting rid of the yellowing? My first guess is to sand it down...but i dont know if thats the first step..can you help me? Thanks, Jeanine

Email reply:

Hi Jeanine

I'm not familiar with a whitewash on Lane cedar chests, but blonde was a very popular finish in the 1950's and was sometimes accomplished with a light or whitish stain.

Cedar color is generally from a light brown color to a dark chocolate brown and light to dark pink and into a deep pinkish red.

Generally, to make the cedar chests compatible with other furniture the outside of the chest was/is veneered with different types of wood. Usually mahogany was used for the blonde furniture, because it has a subdued grain pattern and some types of mahogany are very light.

I would try cleaning with a good furniture cleaner, such as Prelude Furniture Cleaner. If you're lucky the yellowing is in wax and polish and not the finish itself. Take a look at our pages furniture restoration and furniture restoration procedure for some restoration information.

If cleaning won't work you'll need to refinish. Stripping the old finish off will remove the yellowing, along with the old finish. I wouldn't use sandpaper on the outside, just a chemical stripper, such as Citristrip Paint and Varnish Remover. Citristrip is environment and people friendly and has a pleasant orange scent. See our page about Stripping for some stripping information. Finish the stripping cleanup with a rub down with 0000 steel wool at the above link, then clean with a tack cloth, also at that link.

After you get it stripped and the surface has dried you can re-stain it. The E F Wood Stains are pretty easy to use. The E F Wood Stains are water base, but have been formulated to work similar to oil stains and with the ease of use of oil stain. They have a whitewash stain that should accomplish the look you want.

When the stain has dried you should use a sanding sealer. Zinsser Bullseye Seal Coat is a good sealer and is easily sanded for a smooth surface for the final finish. Zinsser says the seal coat can be used under any clear finish.

Farther down the page at the sealer link is Deft brushing lacquer, which is an easy to use clear finish. The lacquer comes in spray cans too. The lacquer is very smelly and requires good ventilation.

Krylon makes a clear finish in spray cans too and The Krylon is a little less potent smelling.

The inside of the cedar chest shouldn't have any stain or finish of any kind put on it. Generally the inside is a very reddish aromatic cedar. You can sand the inside lightly with about 180 grit sandpaper to break open new cells to release fresh aromatic oils. Besides smelling good it keeps a lot of bugs at bay.

Tom

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