Restoring the finish on Utility furniture

[W-D Forties]

I have several peices of Utility furniture including wardrobes, tallboy, dressing table and a side table. They are all oak veneer and I love them all, but the varnish has started to dry out and look a bit flakey and patchy in areas. I don't want to strip the finish off, mainly because it'd be a big job on the wardrobes that might ruin the look and also I don't know how thick the veneer is and don't want to damage it.

Does anyone know if they can be restored without sanding or chemically removing the old varnish? I did try experimentally rubbing a bit of vaseline on it as I have 'waxed' furniture in the past using this and also leather conditioner and it has worked well. This area went darker but I don't know if it would stop the flaking.

Has anyone else had any joy restoring Utility furniture?

 

[tonyb]

Caveat: This opinion is worth only slightly more that what it cost you, so regard it accordingly.

Have you considered tung oil? I've used it on dried-out-looking furniture and it made a quite noticeable improvement.

 

[MPicciotto]

1st what is the finish currently on the furniture? If it's shellac there is a lot that can be done to mend the finish. If it's varnish not so much, if it's lacquer there are some things to be done, if it's a polyurethane finish nothing can be done. If it's an oil finish (and the most likely for vintage household furniture) then there is LOTS of options out there. tung oil, linseed oil etc but use the real stuff not "tung oil finish" it's just another polyurethane. Lately for higher value stuff I've been using Kramers Antique Improver. Butcher block/cutting board finish is another good candidate. It's a blend of bees wax and mineral oil. Straight mineral oil can be used too. A Howards product that I like is a blend of bees wax and orange oil.

In summary IF you are dealing with a raw wood or oil finished wood then I would google restoring/cleaning gunstocks. The antique gun restorers go to great lengths to maintain the original finish. If it's another finish like nitrocellulose lacquer or shellac you will have to use a different approach to properly restore the finish. Good luck.

Matt

 

[W-D Forties]

Thanks MPicciotto and tonyb. I have never heard of tung oil before, what is it usually used for?

The current finish is probably/definitely varnish, and given the age of the furniture I'd imagine it's not polyurathane. I wasn't sure if I'd have to sand the old stuff off and start from scratch (I really don't have to time or room to do that), or if the old varnish could be 'moisturised' in some way. Is tung oil ok to use over existing varnish?

 

[W-D Forties]

Thanks MPicciotto and tonyb. I have never heard of tung oil before, what is it usually used for?

The current finish is probably/definitely varnish, and given the age of the furniture I'd imagine it's not polyurathane. I wasn't sure if I'd have to sand the old stuff off and start from scratch (I really don't have to time or room to do that), or if the old varnish could be 'moisturised' in some way. Can I use Tung Oil over varnish?

 

[DeaconKC]

Tung oil is often used on gunstocks to restore or as an original finish. When you consider that custom gunmakers use this on stocks that can easily run into thousands of dollars, it is not something to fear.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

If you use tung oil finish that's part varnish it works well. I use that on Hiking Staffs for Eagle Scouts regularly. The pure tung oil dries stuff out, I didn't like how it made my double diamond 1911 grips look.

Just my $0.02.

 

[W-D Forties]

1961MJS - The tung oil that's part varnish, do you think that'd work over my dried out oil varnish?

 

[1961MJS]

Hi, unfortunately, I've only used it on new wood, not to refinish. You could try it on a less noticeable part of the furniture. Tung Oil, finish or otherwise, isn't that expensive.

Later

 

[in/y]

My father-in-law was an antique dealer. He sold and restored a wide range of thing though his specialty was old wood case clocks and furniture to a lesser degree. He swore by a product called Kotton Klenser (http://www.kottonklenser.com/ ) when restoring wood.

Disclaimer: I've never tried it myself so I can't give any first hand insight on Kotton Klenser.

 

[W-D Forties]

I've a sneaking feeling that there may be no shortcuts here, I may need to strip the smaller items and revarnish and leave the others be!

I might get some tung oil or similar and give it a go on a less noticable part of the larger peices.

 

[vitanola]

Now, the term "Varnish" today refers to a coating which hardens via a polymerizing reaction, one which is not reversible. Seventy years ago it refered to any clear coating, hence "Spirit Varnishes" such as shellac, nitrocellulose lacquer (trade-named "DUCO") and (rarely) copal. Spirit varnish finishes may be re-flowed with the proper solvent, Denatured alcohol (Methylated Spirit to you Brits) for shellac and Copal, and Lacquer Thinner for lacquer.

Supplies of drying oils were scarce in Britain during the War, and nitrocellulose was available but was needed for the production of explosives (nitrocellulose also being known as "guncotton") There is a high probability that the finish on your Utility Furniture is indeed shellac. To test, soak a bit of lint free cloth with Methylated Spirit or even 91% Isopropanol and apply it to the finish in a concealed spot. If the finsh softens, or comes off on your cloth, then you have a shellac varnish, which is very easy to satisfactorily restore.

 

[W-D Forties]

Ahh, thank you vitanola. Iwas a bit wary of meths in case it just stripped the surface off completely! If it is indeed shellac, what do you mean by 'restore'? If it softens with meths, can I just lightly wipe the meths over to reflow and blend in the flakey bits?

I guess what I'm asking is, can I restore the lustre of the finish easily without stripping it. For example my side table top is looking very patchy, but the sides are fine so I just want a relatively simple way of sorting out the top, 'remoisturising' the varnish, protecting the wood and stopping any further damage.

 

[vitanola]

Ahh, thank you vitanola. Iwas a bit wary of meths in case it just stripped the surface off completely! If it is indeed shellac, what do you mean by 'restore'? If it softens with meths, can I just lightly wipe the meths over to reflow and blend in the flakey bits?

I guess what I'm asking is, can I restore the lustre of the finish easily without stripping it. For example my side table top is looking very patchy, but the sides are fine so I just want a relatively simple way of sorting out the top, 'remoisturising' the varnish, protecting the wood and stopping any further damage.

Yes, you can, but you must use a very fine touch, for if the surface begins to "pull" you can mar the finish. Another way to deal with it would be to lightly brush the surface with a 1# cut of shellac (commercial mixed shellac is generally mixed to a 3# cut, so mix one part commercial shellac to two parts spirit). Brush on as if varnishing, try not to lap. After this amalgamating coat ishard, then you may WET sand, using 200 or 320 grit sandpaper, lubricated with paint thinner (Naptha) rather than with water. After the surface is JUST smooth, before wearing through the original finish, wipe down the surface, allow it to completely dry and apply a coat or two of 3#shellac. Allow the shellac to harden and rub out with 0000 (Super Fine) steel wool very generously loaded with quality paste wax. Shoe polish makes an excellent wax, long wearing and tinted so that white lines do not show up in carving. After the wax hardens, buff to a shine with soft cloths.

 

[Flicka]

You know, I just use home-made polish (2 parts olive oil and 1 part lemon juice) on my damaged furniture. It masks smaller imperfections colourwise (you still see them as dents in the surface if the light falls in just like that) and makes the old varnish shine. It's not something I'd recommend for expensive stuff but it worked wonders on my grandparents' old table that my mother was going to throw out because it was in such a bad shape (deep, deep scratches all over the centre of the top). Now you can't tell unless you look at it from the right (or wrong?) angle. I need to top it up every now and then (every second week or once a month) but that's not really very hard work.

Note: I'm not an expert. I like quick and dirty and old household tips.

 

[W-D Forties]

Thanks for all the advice folks! I just need to track down some shellac now...

 

[Computergeek]

Hi W-D
I don't know if you will see this message or if you even read this forum still but i do a lot of restoration work and Vitanola is correct. Based on the age of the furniture it is most likely a shellac finish, or a shellac and "beeswax mixed with a linseed or tongue oil with a little alcohol." Shellac is easy to work with you can get loose shellac flake for restoration from several places online "tools for working wood" carries quite a few options and woodcraft does as well. I would recommend calling and talking to Joel or one of the guys in the shop there they can steer you in the right direction. you can mix it with just about any type of pure alcohol to thin it and older shellac can be worked and blended fairly easily, soft time is determined by ratio of shellac to alcohol. ( as an easy alternative i usually mix my shellac with Everclear from the local package store. Soften the existing shellac with pure alcohol rubbed on with a rag, and then the additional finish can be brushed on with a clean brush, a tightly bound bundle of straw can be used to polish it to a high finish after it dries (this is called French polishing). Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Jeremy

 

[Methuselah]

It's probably cellulose lacquer, that's been my experience with 40s furniture so far.
It's easy to clean with white spirit.
Applying either cellulose thinners or varnish should slightly soften the old varnish and blend it in.

If you want a small bottle of thinners to test with, I know Wilkinson's sell it. It evaporates even faster than meths. I mix the 2 together and rub it over vintage mantle clock cases to sort out minor blemishes.
I've also had success using this for an old sewing machine case.

All this kind of thing is best done outside, so now is not the ideal time of year!

 

[Methuselah]

@Computergeek: I've never heard of straw being used in French polishing before, I've only ever used a fad for it. Have you got any links on the web to videos or tutorials for this technique? Cheers.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Homer Formby Furniture Refinisher might be the thing. This is a strong solvent that melts the varnish and allows you to push it around with steel wool and wipe with a rag, spreading out the finish and removing surface dirt. The result is a refinished piece with the original finish on it, and it's not hard to do. I wouldn't try it on a 200 year old French antique but anything from Cedar Rapids is fair game.

The stuff smells like lacquer thinner to me. Have not tried lacquer thinner but it might work.