Furniture Cleaner - Wax Remover
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Furniture Cleaner - Wax Remover |
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Wax remover and furniture cleanerQuestion.....I just stripped an old oak sewing maching cabinet and then put a paste wax on it. I did nothing else to the piece. I'm not pleased with the way it looks so consequenty I'd like to remove the wax, stain the cabinet to even the color and then finish it with oil. How do I strip the wax off and ready the piece for stain?Reply.....Here is a good furniture cleaner and wax remover I would go through the wax stripping procedure at least three times and probably a fourth for good measure. The cleaner manufacturer recommends using 0000 steel wool with the cleaner. I would use a medium bristle brush, like a vegetable brush too, to get the wax out of the pores of the oak. All traces of the wax need to come off so the stain will take properly. | |||
Danish Oil FinishDanish oil is easy to use and since it has a linseed oil base it's handy to use if there might be any little flecks of wax left. Danish oil has it's own color. You should apply at least 3 coats and each coat will make the finish a little darker, so you should start out a little lighter than you want the final result to be.Tung OilTung oil is another good finish and is a little harder than linseed oil. You would need to stain first for color. I would use a good oil stain. Oil stain takes longer to dry, but gives a better looking stain job than the quicky stains.Tung oil comes in two types pure tung oil, which is not polymerized and polymerized tung oil, which is still pure tung oil when heat polymerized, but some tung oil is chemically polymerized, which will add chemicals to the tung oil. Polymerized tung oil dries harder and has a higher gloss than the non polymerized tung oil. Here is a link to a good selection of stain. The oils make a good finish and are easy to repair if they get scratched, just a quick buffing with 0000 steel wool and another coat of oil. I would stay away from polyurethane. Cork For Wood Drill Bit StopA cork makes a good wood drill bit stop for when you need to drill dowel holes or any other drilling. Drill a hole through the center of the cork with a bit a little smaller than the drill you plan to use it on, for a snug fit, then very carefully work the larger bit into the hole leaving the amount of bit showing for the depth of hole that you want.Lacquer FinishLacquer has always been my favorite finish. It can be applied in heavy coats and it flows nicely and dries quickly to make a nice smooth finish. When you apply additional coats of most other finishes like varnish or polyurethane to itself each successive coat sits on top of the previous coat, but lacquer is solvent to itself and will dissolve the top layer of each previous coat and will end up as one very thick coat.The first use of lacquer was in the Orient many centuries ago. The lacquer then was different than the lacquer as we know it now. The original lacquer had a base of resin taken from a type of Sumac tree. The lacquer transition came about in the late 1800's. In the early 1800's chemists in Europe discovered that mixing cotton and nitric acid would make nitrocellulose, an explosive substance, but it was too unstable to be of much use. Later in the 1800's other chemists took the nitrocellulose and made smokeless powder and a much more stable product out of it. Somewhere along the way in the late 1800's someone discovered that nitrocellulose mixed with certain solvents dried to a hard film with a shine and lacquer as we know it today was born. Lacquer in it's original form dries so quickly that it's necessary to apply it with spray equipment, but when extenders are added to lacquer it can be brushed on making it available for use by people who would like a good durable finish, but don't use lacquer enough to warrant buying spray equipment. A lacquer finish is resistant to water and alcohol and other normally bad things for finishes, like milk and carbonated beverages when wiped up when they're spilled. Like other finishes lacquer will blush, get a white spot, if a hot moist object is set on it or something moist is left on it for long periods. Cabinet HardwareWhen you clean the hardware on your cabinets, especially antiques, be sure to leave some tarnish in designs so you can get the full effect of the hardware design. Antiques should only have hardware tarnish removed and polished in those areas of hardware where they would normally be shiney from constant use. Although oil from our hands will cause tarnish on the hardware, it will also help to shine those areas which are handled a lot.You can find replacement hardware and new hardware here for your refinishing projects or if you would just like to refresh a piece of furniture with new hardware. Dust Mask When You're SandingWhen working with chemicals a paper or cloth dust mask won't do any good toward protecting your lungs. You need a resperator with filters rated for the type of chemical you're working with. Always wear a dust mask when you're sanding, they're good for the large sanding dust particles.
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