Expert: Eileen Cronk - 4/6/2009

Question
Inherited a set of salad bowls and a large salad server that I think are carved from Mahogany (based on the color). I believe they are 60+ years old.  Very nice looking but . . .
The insides of all the bowls are sticky, I'm assuming from absorbing vegetable oil. I've gone at them with denatured alcohol.  The rag turns brown, but the stickiness remains. How does one pull old (rancid) oil from wood?

Answer
Hi Ralph
Nice to hear from you.
I ran across something similar this week Ralph. Not bowls but with an under counter hardwood cutting board.
It was a sticky smelly greasy mess.
I scrubbed the heck out of it with "Citrus Solve" degreaser.
This product is even used to degrease car engines but I use it for household cleaning.
I poured the Citrus solve full strength over the board. I used medium steel wool to scrub it agressively.
I did this twice with rinsing in between. My board came up beautifully.
I think it will fix your bowls too.
Citrus Solve can be used for cleaning greasy pans etc so don't be scared off using it because I mentioned car engines.
Its shown on this page
http://cleaningsupply.ca/chemicals_strippers.html
Good Luck
Regards
Eileen