Newsletter
January 4 2003

I've been considering trading my 18 year old pickup in for a newer mini van, since the new year makes the pick up a year older. Every time I buy a car or pick up it brings to mind my first car, a 1948 Ford convertible, which was five years old at the time and cost $350 dollars. Could you imagine getting a 1998 convertible of any type for $350?

Anyway, I guess this newsletter isn't supposed to be about time or cars so we should get on to Faux Leather, water stains, Danish Oil and other topics.

By the way, the gas I put in that first car was 22 cents a gallon. (sigh)

Quick tip

When you're working with steel wool use a sponge for a handle. The 4 x 6 (or so) household sponges will keep the steel wool where you want it and keep the pokeys out of your hands.

Antique oak ice box stain

email question.....

We have an antique oak icebox that has been refinished with an oak stain.

At some point in time, a plant was on the top of this icebox, followed by the subsequent water stain.

We would like to know if there is any way to remove this stain as we are preparing to sell this icebox and would like it to look as good as possible.

Thanks for any help you can give us.

Sincerely,

Kathy

Reply..... If you're talking about a black stain there really isn't anything you can do that wouldn't diminish the value of the ice box.

Antiques need some sign of wear and use or they look like reproductions, so your stain could be a plus. Different people will conjure up different thoughts of what caused the stain. Someone may visualize a jar of buttermilk or someone else may figure it was a jug of homemade spirits of some sort. Don't pass on your thoughts, let the new owner come up with their own ideas.

Quick tip

Shoe polish will work wonders to cover scratches. Use an artists brush that will make a fine point and dip it in a liquid shoe polish close to the color you want, then swipe the brush across a piece of paper until it's almost dry and make several applications until the scratch is covered and not too noticeable. Buff with a soft cloth when it's dry.

Faux Leather

2003 is a good year for faux leather.

We left off last time with some materials you will need, most are common tools and things. Wallpaper paste isn't an item most people keep on the shelf ready for use. When you buy wallpaper paste be sure to buy the strippable kind, just in case you decide to do a whole wall after you get your technique down pat. Just like any other decorating you may get tired of the appearance later and decide to do something else with the wall.

It's a good idea to line the wall with Wall Liner too. The wall liner has two benefits, first it will cover any texturing, cracks or other blemishes and make the wall completely smooth and the second is that it is easily strippable using standard wallpaper stripping methods.

Now is the time to start sticking it down. Like with everything else this is a general method and you can revise it to suit your needs and adventuresomeness. You'll need to follow the directions carefully on the wallpaper paste mixing though. When you first mix the paste resist the temptation to add more powder, because the mixture will probably look very fluid. It doesn't take long until it has the consistency of Jello. Mix a very small amount for your test project. A little bit goes a long way.

You can apply the paste and work your paper with your hands and a paint brush. The package directions may talk about wallpaper paste brush and wallpaper smoothing brush, but for your test project or any other small projects a plain paint brush will work fine.

The gluing of the crinkled kraft paper is the most crucial part of the whole process, because it will give the grained effect for the faux leather.

If you haven't wadded your kraft paper yet now is the time to do it. Wad it and squeeze it as tightly as you can to get some good random wrinkles and crinkles it it. If your grip isn't too strong roll the wad of kraft paper on a surface, like you would an orange before you juice it.

Next step is to smooth out the wrinkled paper and have it ready to apply.

Apply some wallpaper paste, generously, to the surface you're working on, enough for one piece of paper, then lay the kraft paper on the glued surface and smooth it gently with your hands and a paint brush. Apply paste over the top of the piece of paper you just stuck down, helping to glue it securely and get rid of bubbles. Apply the paste for the next piece of paper and spread it on slightly overlapping the first piece. This is where the soft torn edges come in. If you had sharp cut edges you would have a lot of seams, but the soft edges will blend nicely and seamlessly. Keep doing this procedure until the whole surface is covered.

The wrinkles are the important part, so don't smooth the paper to the point where you don't have any wrinkles, but don't leave any speed bumps or bubbles sticking up either. Look at a piece of leather and get an idea how your wrinkled kraft paper faux leather should look.

Let the surface dry completely, at least 24 hours. Then apply the base coat of an acrylic paint of your desired color, I'm going to use a medium brown in my head for starters. Apply the paint in a criss cross and other type of random pattern and be sure to work it well into the cracks and crannies made by the wrinkles. Let the base coat dry thoroughly then apply a glaze coat. You can make a glaze from the paint that you have and some of the clear acrylic that you have for the final protective finish. Try equal parts of clear glaze and paint, then test it on a piece of scrap to see if it has a good translucent appearance.

The translucent glaze can be applied with a bristle brush, foam brush, sponge, rag or anything else handy. Brush or wipe it in a pleasing contrasting pattern. You could stop here with the glaze coat, or if you're feeling experimental you could add another glaze coat, either lighter or darker.

After the glaze coat has completely dried give the surface a coat or two of clear acrylic to protect your work of art and to make it easier to clean.

When it's all done step back and admire your work and we'll hope that you give a pleasurable sigh, but if your first thought is oh yuck, don't give up, remember when you learned to walk you probably lit smack on your round part a few times. Get up and grab your kraft paper, brushes and everything else and do it again, until you get it so you like it.

Next newsletter we'll cover a couple of other methods for making faux leather.

More White Rings

email question.....

Could you give info on heat marks on a dining room table?
How do I remove them & prevent them in the future?
Thanks for your help. Your web site is great.

Stephanie

Reply.....

If you're talking about white rings and blotches caused by heat and moisture you could try using a blow dryer set on the lowest setting and held away from the surface so that the finish doesn't get so hot that it bubbles. Keep your hand by the spot you're working on and if it's too hot for your hand move the blow dryer back until it's comfortable for your hand. The white color is due to excess moisture and needs to be dried.

The blow dryer method will quite often work, but if it doesn't, then there is a product called ring remover and is a good product for removing moisture heat stains.

If those methods don't work there's another product called Restor-a-Finish. With this one you'll have to give the whole top the same treatment, but it's easy to do. Restor-a-Finish penetrates the finish and adds color, so be sure to use a color similar to your original color. It covers scratches and other blemishes too.

Another method is using Rottenstone. This method could be pretty labor intensive, because you may have to rub the whole surface equal to the amount of rubbing to get rid of the spot. Rottenstone is a mild abrasive and is used for polishing. The white is generally just in the top surface of the finish, so if the top portion is removed it takes the white with it. There's a little more information in our newsletter at Newsletter 2002-11-23

If all of that doesn't work, then you'll probably have to refinish.

To prevent the problem always use coasters or place mats under glasses that have cold beverages or cups with hot beverages. Anything that can cause moisture to form on the outside of the container is a potential problem. Hot serving dishes should be put on hot pads or trivets.

Trivets on little feet with pads and a hot pad on the trivet are the ultimate best for hot serving dishes. Be sure the feet have pads on them, felt is best, to keep from scratching the surface. The hot pad on the trivet will absorb moisture and keep heat from the table surface and the air space made by the feet on the trivet gives extra protection.

Quick tip

If you have to start a screw in a tight place where you can't get your fingers in to hold the screw, stick the screw through a piece of tape with the sticky side up, then put the screwdriver in the screw slot and tape the two together. It saves a lot of naughty thoughts.

Finishes, paint and stuff

Danish Oil

Danish Oil is a blend of oils, generally including tung oil and phenolic resin. The oil carries the resin deep into the wood surface and stains, seals and finishes the wood. The finish isn't really a film of finish as we generally think of finish. The hardening of the surface of the wood actually makes the wood itself part of the finish.

Danish Oil is real easy to use and to repair. After the wood surface is prepared the Danish Oil is applied liberally and allowed to soak in. Apply more oil as an area becomes dull looking. The dull look means that all of the oil available has been soaked up and it can take more. After the wood has soaked up as much Danish Oil as it can you need to wipe off all of the excess oil and let the surface dry. Repeat the application at least three times and more if it appears to need it.

To get a satiny smooth finish apply the first two coats of Danish Oil with 400 grit sandpaper with a sanding block, then wipe and use the above procedure.

The only care necessary is wiping with a damp cloth and then a soft dry cloth. If you just use this cleaning method and stay away from polishes, especially sprays, you can clean the surace every six months or so with a good furniture cleaner and add a new coat of oil to keep the surface looking brand new all the time.

If the surface gets a scratch or other mar just clean the whole surface well and add another coat of oil with 400 grit sandpaper and it's taken care of.

The Danish Oil is a very good product, easy to use, maintain and repair, but not nearly as hard and protective as a finish such as lacquer.

There are other similar products that have different names such as Nordic Oil that work the same as Danish Oil.

Now to the eye glazing nitty gritty.

We've covered tung oil before, but if you'd like a refresher you can go to the web site and put tung oil in the site search box and it'll give you lots of tung oil information.

We haven't discussed Phenolic Resins much because it's not a topic brought up at most social gatherings. Phenol is a substance that comes from benzene, used in resins, plastics and other applications and is also called carbolic acid. In a weaker form its used as an antiseptic and disinfectant.

There's a bit more to Phenolic Resins, but a smattering of information like that is interesting, but when you get to the deep nitty gritty it gets kind of ho hum.

Veneer metal cabinets

email question.....

Good day,
I am remodeling a old kitchen that has metal cabinets. I have sanded,
primed and painted the inside of the cabinets but would like to know if your
veneer would stick to metal? Some people in the business have suggest that
it would if the right adhesive was applied. Please advise.

thank you
keith

Reply.....

Wood veneer can make the old metal cabinets look like top of the line new ones. I'd suggest the pressure sensitive veneer. We don't actually sell anything, we just give away information. The above link is a good honest supplier, I've bought quite a bit from them.

The pressure sensitive veneer has a peel and stick backing that makes the job fool proof and real quick to do and will stick tight to metal, other wood, laminated plastic or about anything else you can think of.

Take a look at kitchen cabinet refacing menu it's our content page for our kitchen refacing section and has links to the other pages with information and tips for using the veneer.

If you use regular veneer, you can get it and all the necessary contact cement at the top link too. Contact cement is real smelly, so if you use it be sure to have good ventilation.

Quick Tip

If you don't have a long clamp to clamp a chair together while making a repair, it's baling wire to rescue, if you have a c-clamp. Make a loop of baling wire, or similar wire, around one leg (be sure to protect the leg with cardboard or several layers of newspapers or cloth) and put the c-clamp on another protected leg with the loop of wire around the holding end of the clamp and tighten it up. It can be kind of frustrating getting the c-clamp balanced right, but it's better than nothing in a pinch.