Smoke Damage Furniture

[Scott Halverson]

Hello All,

I recently purchased a few pieces of Amish furniture. The poor owner of this wonderful shop had a chimney fire and lost his whole shop and primary warehouse. He did not have any insurance.

Anyway, he had an attached building that started to burn, but was able to save some of the building. He ended up knocking it down, but was able to salvage a few pieces of furniture.

I bought a couple of armoires and dressers. There is slight damage, but mostly a strong smoke smell.

Does anyone have any experience cleaning the soot and getting rid of the smoke smell in furniture. It is all Red Oak and White Oak.

Thanks,
Scott

[Randal Stevenson]

Neighbor across the street had a fire, years back. Had some furniture that belonged to his great Grandparents (dining table and two chairs). We were told to use denatured alcohol to remove the soot and varnish, until you were just pulling off the varnish. Then revarnish.

[Jim Becker]

Alcohol will not remove varnish; only shellac. But it's a good cleaning agent for the purpose described.

[Matt Meiser]

And if the Wisonsin Amish are like the Ohio Amish, that might be a catalyzed finish which would hold up to to the alcohol no problem.

[Scott Halverson]

Thanks for the help guys.

I did hear him say that it is a catalysed finish.

If I have to replace any of the wood, what is the best finish I can put on to match what's current.

Thanks again,
Scott

[Dave Mapes]

:) Ok for us dummies! please explain what a catalyzed finish is.

[Jim Becker]

:) Ok for us dummies! please explain what a catalyzed finish is.
It's a variation of a finish that chemically cures to a very, very hard and durable state. The "catalyst" is added to the mixture to cause that chemical reaction. And example is "pre-catalyzed lacquer". Nasty stuff to work with (due to the environmentals) but one of the more durable finishes available.

[Matt Meiser]

Scott,
We have a few pieces of Amish furniture built in Ohio and I've made quite a bit to match. Ours is all red oak with what they call "S2" stain. I've come up with a mix of 3 different Minwax stains that is a perfect match. I use satin Minwax wipe on poly over that. Personally I wouldn't mess with the pre-cat finish. If you want that, take it to someone to spray it.

Again if the Wisonsin Amish are like the Ohio Amish, they might specialize. There might be a finishing shop they use. In Ohio, there are sawmills, places that turn legs, places the glue up panels, chair places, etc. We stayed at a campground that had free firewood--all scraps that had been cut with a CNC machine.

[Scott Halverson]

Matt,

I would be interested in the three minwax stains you use. There is a good chance this furniture came from Ohio. He could not keep up (one man shop) so he brought some furniture up from another state. I can't remember if it was Ohio or not. I do remember him telling us about a two part catylist finish in the past though.

Thanks again for your help.
Scott

[Matt Meiser]

My recipe is as follows:

1 part 209 (Natural)
1 part 210B (Golden Oak)
1 part 235 (cherry)

When I found the recipe, I just mixed up a quart of each into a 1 gallon can (you can get empty ones at Lowes or a paint store) and wrote the recipe on the lid.

I just spray (very messy and slippery on concrete) or better brush it on. When I've finished brushing the stain on the piece, I start use a terry towel to wipe off the excess. It really doesn't seem to make a diffence on how long it sits as long as it is on for a few minutes and not long enough to get gooey. I go back over it an hour or so later to get anything that bled out of the pores. The next day you can put on the poly.

When I started out, I didn't know anything but Minwax. I've used this on probably 15 pieces of furniture and accessories and I consistently get a matching finish so I've stuck with it. I've tried Watco Danish oil in Oak and have found it to be too light. For other projects, I've used other higher-end finishes, but if its oak and for our house, it gets this finish.

[Scott Halverson]

Matt,

I really appreciate your help with the color matching. It'll be awhile before I get the pieces cleaned, then I can start some repair work.

Thanks to everyone with the suggestions for cleaning the smoke smell also.

Scott

[Jason Hallowell]

I used to own a fire and water damage restoration business, and have removed smoke damage from countless peices of furniture. We used a heavy duty detergent that is specially formulated for soot, but industrial de-greasers work pretty well. First wipe all of the loose soot off with a dry towel. It is very important to remove as much loose debris as possible before adding any moisture. If you have access to rubber sponges, they work even better for this step. Then scrub the surfaces using a rag and your detergent mixture, following immediately behind with a dry rag. We had the luxury of then being able to treat the items with ozone for a day or two using our large ozone machine in a specially vented storage room. We usually followed that with a thorough wiping down with lemon oil. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, or if there is any way I can help.