Newsletter September 1, 2002

After several months of illness, several months of catching up and several months that slipped by unknown, our newsletter is up and running again, hopefully without any future unexpected breaks.

Site Search Engine - We've added a new site search engine that works better than the old one. We re-index often to include any new information that we add to the site, so if you don't find the information that you want try again another time, it may be there.

Reference Section - We've turned the old products section into a reference section at Reference. There are small pictures and descriptions of items used in furniture refinishing, antique and furniture restoration and repair and a few extras. It's just in the process of being changed over and will be an ongoing project, so if you don't see what your interested in now come back often and check the new additions. There are links to suppliers where you can purchase the items and in lots of cases there is more information and always the prices, so you can figure what the material for a refinishing or repair job will cost. We've chosen the suppliers we recommend very carefully to be sure they're honest, have been in business long enough to prove themselves and have good ordering and shipping policies as well as secure ordering sites.

Custom Picture Framing - We did custom picture framing along with the furniture, so decided we will add information about picture framing too. When we did custom framing the cost was outrageous (we didn't use the framing industry chart prices, we set our own) and after being away from the business for several years it made me gasp to see how prices have increased. Framing isn't expensive if you do it yourself and if you have several pictures to frame up you can purchase your own tools, which will pay for themselves with the first two or three pictures.

The first installment of the picture framing section is close to completion and will be on the web site soon.

Statuary - We didn't confine ourselves to just furniture restoration, we restored almost anything restorable. We completed a Garden Fountain restoration just recently for our own patio. We show step by step how we did it.

We have some more restoration projects of this type coming up, a birdbath broken in two and a large chunk out of it and a concrete grecian urn broken in two and has some missing pieces.

Always protect marble surfaces with coasters or a cloth and wipe spills quickly, especially carbonated beverages, they'll etch marble and cause it to lose it's glossy shine.

Have you received a free copy of the Woodworkers Catalog? It's a dreamers paradise. It has several thousand items, including items you may not even know existed. Click the link and you can have one very shortly.

Hello,

My wicker furniture has a slight mouldy smell in each item and needs cleaning to eliminate this odour. Could you please advise me.

Thanks,

Peter
Brixham, Devon.



Use 1/4 cup of chlorine bleach in two gallons of warm water and use a medium bristle brush, like a vegetable brush. Dip the brush and scrub the wicker piece completely, even underneath, then rinse the same way with clean warm water.

It will help if you can put the wicker furniture in the sun to dry. The sun works wonders with eliminating odor.

Let the wicker dry completely before you use it, because if you sit on it while it's damp it will move the strands of reed slightly and when it dries the strands will stay in the new position and could put stress on the joints.

A nylon bristle is best, as a natural bristle could leave little bits of bristle among the strands of reed.

You may have to repeat the treatment two or three times to get rid of the smell completely, then it would be a good idea to give it an annual treatment just to be sure to keep from having the problem again.

There is more wicker information at Wicker Menu.

To save a lot of time and work try restoration before you refinish a clear finish.

There's lots of restoration information at Furniture Restoration and Furniture Restoration Procedure

It's highly unlikely that you'll ever have a problem with rust on your dining room set, but on the patio or elswhere outside is a different story.

email question

My mother gave me an old milk can that is 75% rust. I would like to restore it to put in my garden. I have a small electric sander that I've used on some yard sale furniture. Can I use this to take the rust off or is there an easier way? I don't want to invest a lot of money in it. Frankly I like some of the rust, but I would like to paint it the same silver as it once was.

Thanks,

Kim

..........
Several people have asked about rust. This method should work whether it's a milk can or a bar-b-q or metal patio furniture.
..........

Yes, much easier. There is a product called Naval Jelly that is available at most hardware or paint stores or those departments in stores like Wal-mart and K-mart.

It doesn't have anything to do with tummy buttons, it got it's name because the Navy uses so much of it removing rust from ships.

The method would depend on the thickness of the rust. If it isn't too thick just use the naval jelly and coarse steel wool and it should remove the rust ok.

The naval jelly is Phosphoric Acid, be sure to wear eye protection, long sleeve shirt and rubber gloves. After the rust is removed you can use a wash of water and baking soda to neutralize any remaining acid.

Be sure to read the label directions and warnings. Naval Jelly isn't dangerous if it's used properly and with precautions.

If the rust is thick you'll have to bring out the big guns. The job goes quicker if you use a wire wheel on an electric drill first. Next choice would be a wire brush and lots of elbow grease. I'm assuming that the sander you have is a flat bed sander of some sort. The rust would be irregular depths so a flat bed sander wouldn't be too efficient. You would need to use emery cloth instead of sandpaper and if the rust has eaten very deep you could go through the metal and leave a hole.

After using the wire brush or wheel you can use the naval jelly application same as above.

When the rust is all removed the easiest way to finish is with spray paint. Use a good rust preventive paint like Rust-Oleum. Prime the milk can and lightly sand it with regular sandpaper, about 220 grit. Apply enough coats of primer, sanding between coats, to make a smooth surface, then spray with the final coat.

If you have chairs with cane seats that are loose and drooping they should be tightened as soon as possible as the looseness will cause the cane to wear and break. Turn the chair upside down and place a folded towel on the raw underside of the cane and get the towel wet. Let it sit on the cane for several hours so that the cane is completely wet, then let the cane dry completely without using it. The cane should be nice and taut when it's dried.

If you're interested in some serious furniture cleaning and restoration there's a very good furniture cleaner at Prelude Furniture Cleaner. It removes old wax and polish and accumulated grime. Be sure to test on an inconspicuous place first to be sure of compatibility with your finish. It should work with all finishes, but caution is always advisable with your furniture.

When stripping furniture let the stripper do the work. Apply a liberal coat of stripper and let it sit for a good long time. If the stripper dries you can re-activate it with another coat of stripper, but if you try to remove the old finish before the stripper has softened it, you've used up that amount stripper and the old finish is still there.

Hi, Tom:

Your site is great! I like the idea of putting a belt sander into a closet and keeping it there! You're so down-to-earth with your methods. I can understand how to do a lot of things by just reading your site.

I bought a garden bench at a Thrift Shop. It is weathered gray and is dirty. The label on the bottom says "Made in Brazil". I'm thinking it's Brazilian Teak. Anyway, I would like to clean it up and get it to a medium to dark color wood. (I have dark pine REAL WOOD furniture and this will fit in rather nicely in the entry way or in a guest room. I'm thinking a lot of Teddy Bears sitting on it!) Anyway, I think all I have to do is take warm, soap water with a clean white cloth and wash it. Let it dry and then oil it with teak oil. There do not seem to be dents or stains on it that will require sanding. What do you think of my plan?

Thanks so much.

Sincerely,

Angela

Since the bench is weathered gray it would indicate that it doesn't have much of a finish left on it, so the water may raise the grain and cause you to have to (shudder) sand. Actually sanding on a piece like you have isn't so bad, it's when the furniture gets older that it's cause for shudder. Teak is an oily wood and can tolerate an amount of water too.

Using a cleaner and 0000 steel wool would guarantee no raised grain.

You might take some paint thinner, denatured alcohol or lacquer thinner, whatever you might have and apply it to an out of the way place and that would be what the teak would look like if you just applied a clear finish. That would give you an idea of where you would have to go with staining to get the color you want, but even if the color came out what you want, you would probably have to stain anyway with a neutral color to even out the color. Unless you can find a pigmented teak oil I would suggest a danish oil since it's easy to find in colors or stain with an oil stain.

But then, to back up parallel to that last sentence, if you already have some teak oil you might try using it as a cleaner with 0000 steel wool and see if it will come out like you want it, because you can always go over the teak oil with danish oil or an oil stain to get the color you want if it needs to be darker.

You can find a good oil base stain and sealer, tung oil and a finish product here. The finish product is called Nordic Oil and it dries non-toxic, so can be used on surfaces that come in contact with food.

These comments are taken from our guestbook. If you'd like to see more comments they're available for viewing at guestbook.

Special thanks to all who have offered so many kind words.

"I found your site at a very opportune time for I had just stripped the dining room table! Thanks to you I now know how to apply the finishing touches - something I didn't know before. Many thanks. Dennis "

"What a nicely-done and helpful site. Thanks. I will be back many times, I am sure..... Scott"

"I have an Antiques business and I can't tell you how much I need a site like yours. I buy a lot of furniture that needs help and then redo it to sell. It's the best job in the world. Linda"

"It is great to see your site very well done. I founded the National Association of Furniture Repair and Refinishing Specialists in 1995 (NAFRRS). unfortunatly at that time most refinishers had very litte interest in computers or could not afford them. Our Newsletter was titled from Strip to Finish and it was mailed to 13,000 refinishing shops around the country. Good luck with your efforts John Rybski"

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Until Next Time,

Tom

Generally, Usually, Most of the Time

You will read those words and phrases and others like them quite frequently in the information I give. Most procedures are exact maybes. Usually to do the same thing twice will have the same results, but maybe the third time won't, but then again maybe it will.

Care, caution, knowledge and patience are the watchwords and using them will make it work every time.

Be sure to test an inconspicuous place when using any chemicals on any surface.

Any suggestions offered are given in good faith, but since we have no control over the use of or application of any suggestions, we cannot accept any responsibility for any problems arising from their use.

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