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Advice on cleaning nicotine stain.

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Subject: Advice on cleaning nicotine stain.

Email question:

Can you please advise.

I have acquired an old Victorian sideboard which is heavily nicotine
stained along with years of dirt.

Can you please advise the best practice for initially cleaning the
unit (especially the nicotine) so I can
then look at the true condition for restoration/polish.

Somebody recommended to use a vinegar/water mix.

Best regards

Kenny

Email reply:

Hi Kenny

Some old home recipes for cleaners worked ok, especially when there wasn't anything else available. The vinegar may clean some of the nicotine off, but would make the sideboard smell like a great big pickle. Commercial furniture cleaners have been devised to do a good job of cleaning in most instances.

Prelude Furniture Cleaner on our cleaner catalog page is a good one for the type of cleaning you have to do

Some tools for cleaning, with descriptions, are on our Furniture Restoration web page and some pages that give information down to the nitty gritty for cleaning are at Restoration Procedure and Cleaning Basic.

The Orange oil shown next to the furniture cleaner would be good to apply to all the raw wood on the inside of the case and drawers inside and out. It will help to add oils to the wood, clean the surface on the inside and give a good pleasant orangey smell.