Old desk and cleaning?

[Al Willits]

OK, I'm neither a furniture re-finisher, nor do I play one on TV so I need your help again.

We have just acquired from my FIL a cherry desk that's somewhere between 40 and 50 years old, but it needs cleaning and I am not sure what to use on it.

A bit of searching has come up with, Citrus cleaners, WD-40, a damp cloth (didn't remove film on finish) alcohol, Murphy's oil, acetone and plain old soap and water, not sure on which soap though.

Finish is good enough that I don't have to refinish it, just clean it up a bit, be nice to find something to apply and use a soft brush to get in all the crevice's and such with.

Any suggestions??

Tia

Al

[Todd Carpenter]

Hi Al,

Start with the mildest, and work your way to the harshest:

Damp cloth
Murphy's Oil Soap
plain old soap and water (Dishwashing liquid and water)
Citrus cleaners
Alcohol
Acetone (be careful with this - you may wind up having to refinish)
WD-40 (I wouldn't use this one as it contains acids and silicones)
Chances are pretty good you'll have good results with either the Murphy's Oil Soap, or the dishwashing liquid and water. Don't saturate your cleaning cloth, just enough to wet the surface, and then rinse and dry immediately. Follow your cleaning with a coat of paste wax and it will probably be as good as new.

Good luck
HTH
Todd

[Phil Phelps]

Mineral spirits will not harm lacquer, oil, or varnish. It is a great grease remover.

[Al Willits]

Thanks all, it seems there's a flim build up on the finish, probably from years of storage and the fact my MIL was a smoker, damp cloth didn't touch it and I tried a degreaser in a small spot, it took it off but unsure what it did to the finish.

I'll pick up some Murphy's and get a ton of rags out and see what happens, figuring something like a soft tooth brush might work for them hard to get at places.

Al

[Al Willits]

OK, seems I have a pretty good start on the desk with the Murphy's, maybe try one more time later but it seems to be pretty good considering.

I'm thinking a coat of furniture wax after that?

Also, We're trying to figure out what it is, it was made by the Davis Cabinet Company in Nashville Tenn, date stamped on it looks to be possibly Nov 16 1949 or 1940 maybe, and the wife thinks its a Lillian Russell style.

We were going to use it for the wife's sewing cabinet, but we're wondering if this shouldn't be used as a piece of furniture instead?

Here's some pictures of it, hope they turn out ok.

[Scott Holmes]

A trick I learned from an antique expert was to use GoJo cream handcleaner; slather it on let it set awhile and clean it off with rags.

GoJo (not the pumice kind) will remove all types of dirt and grime and will not harm the finish.

[Todd Carpenter]

Good tip Scott, I'll be filing that one away for future use!