Best way to Clean Antique Wood furniture
I wouldn't use soap and water on wood. I always use Murphy's on my wood. Recently I found a product called Feed-N-Wax. It's by Howard (never heard of it.) and the instructions are to apply with a cloth, wait 20 minutes, then buff off. I garnered quite a bit of dark dirt from my clean furniture doing this. It's made of beeswax and orange oil.
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I'd recommend going to an antique store or an antique mall because they usually have the very best wood cleaners for sale & they also could answer your questions. But I've heard the orange-oil wood cleaner is some of the best & have seen one brand of the orange-oil wood cleaner sold at my local antique mall. Also, you can't beat that wonderful orange smell!
As far as the Old English scratch remover goes, it does work wonders, but be sure to buy the one made for light-colored wood! I once stripped a bunch of old & gunky furniture polish mixed with lots of nicotine (from years of cigarette smoke) by using straight Ammonia (not the sudsy kind) but straight ammonia is only for those rare cases where the furniture wax &/or oils have built up over many years & have turned really sticky & yucky. You MAY be able to use a tiny bit of ammonia mixed with water if you have a huge build-up of wax & furniture polish, but use care, Ammonia is strong stuff & water isn't good for wood!
After I used the straight ammonia & the piece was rinsed & dry, I followed it with the dark Old-English scratch remover & this old furniture cabinet from the 1950's looked so wonderful & new, my mother-in-law thought it WAS brand new! She couldn't believe it was her original piece of furniture!
-> But for your nice antique oak coffee table, I would use a cleaner made to clean & polish wood... Not something from the grocery store. Buy a good wood cleaner from an Antique store near you.
* I agree with the previous post, if it were up to me, I wouldn't use the Murphy's Soap to clean your table! Her product sounds good, but once you use wax, oil will not penetrate. But furniture wax can REALLY protect a table & it's especially nice when you eat & drink on the table!
Scratches:
* If the Old English doesn't work, you can hide your scratches by taking a set of thin-tip $1 store, kids water-color markers & match the colors in the wood with the markers, then simply fill-in the scratch with a blend of the colors that look best, if you make a mistake, you can remove with a little alcohol & a Q-tip. The same goes for the permanent markers, they also can be blended or removed with alcohol.
* For deeper scratches use melted brown crayons.
Another hint: For super dry wood, a tiny bit of Mineral Oil can be applied to the wood then left to sit for 10 minutes or so then buffed off (really well!) with a soft cotton cloth. Never use vegetable oils because they eventually turn rancid.
I would NOT use Murphy's Oil soap on antique furniture. My mom has an antique mahogany hutch she was going to use it on & her brother-in-law( who spent his entire career as a cabinet maker) told her to never use that stuff on wood that you value!
Last Year I've revamped our main bedroom and I really like the warmth look oak furniture brings into a room. But at the same time oak furniture takes high maintenance. Stains that set into your oak furniture may be hard to get rid off. You must clean them as soon as they happen, or it will soak into the oak. Below is an examples of where you can get some quality oak furniture at really good price and how to keep this looking new.
I don't like Murphy's much either. I prefer the orange oil, but I also seen somewhere to give wood furniture a face lift you can use very thick instant coffee! Just make a sort of paste out of it put it on with a clean soft cloth then wipe it in like you would a stain. Then afterward treat with mineral oil. The piece that they did this to looked amazing afterward!
Our bedroom furniture is over 50 years old and has never been refinished, just dusted with Pledge. Any suggestions on how to get rid of "sticky" and dull finish without completely redoing pieces?
They make a furniture restore product that I used on my husband's antique rolltop desk. It doesn't remove the finish, just removes the years of accumulated polish and stuff. I've thrown my empty bottle away so don't know the exact name but look for it where other paint/refinish products are sold.
Use hand cleaner, I used GoJo, just rub on with a soft cloth and let it sit for about 5 minutes, then wipe it off. Years of goo and gunk will come off . I then wiped it clean with a damp cloth.
Scrub it with Murphy's Oil Soap. Use an old toothbrush if it has any hard-to-reach places. It will take some elbow grease, but will be worth the time.
I acquired an old wood credenza. It has possibilities, but is very dirty. It could be build-up from furniture sprays or just neglect. What is the best way to clean this piece?
Judy from IA
Cleaning Old Wood Furniture
I like the way Murphy's smells, but my husband (who is a carpenter and floor refinisher) says its terrible for the wood. If its really grimy, use naptha or denatured alcohol, available at your local home improvement store near in one of the paint isles. Regardless of what product you use, try a small amount in an inconspicuous area of the credenza to be sure it does what you want it to.
