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Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks/cleaning up cherry wood
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Hi Eileen, I am looking for information on cleaning some beautiful cherry parlor wood in a 100 year old house under restoration. It needs cleaning because of all the work in the house, and there are also several spots that have water damage. Just to try it, I used Old English with the similar color of the wood in an area, and it did help. I do think it needs a good cleaning,though, so what is the least hurtful to this beautiful wood? It is around the windows, pocket doors and fireplace. Thanks for any ideas you could give me.
Hi Jean
Nice to hear from you.
The very best thing to clean this old wood is mineral spirits.
Use very fine steel wool dipped in the spirits as a gentle scrubber.
Keep lots of clean rags at hand to dry as you go.
They apparently now make a low odor mineral spirits but its not available where I live. But look in your area.
Then a nice polish.
You will be amazed at the grime this takes off. You will not think the wood was that dirty LOL.
Kind Regards
Eileen
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Questioner's Rating
| Rating(1-10) | Knowledgeability = 10 | Clarity of Response = 10 | Politeness = 9 |
| Comment | OK, Eileen, Thanks much, just the info I needed, and just so you know, the reason I picked you to ask is that you seem to have the same outlook on keeping/letting old things be old as I do, I will begin on this project now! | ||
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Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks
Answers by Expert:
Eileen Cronk
Expertise
Hi..I can answer most questions about the repairing,stripping and refinishing of all your old furniture and wood items(the things we call antiques)I can give advice about what to buy/avoid at auctions/flea markets. I do not give appraisals on antiques.
Experience
I have been refinishing antiques for the past 30yrs. While I have taken several courses over the years,I have found that "hands on" learning is the best teacher. Perhaps I can help you avoid some of the mistakes I made while learning.
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