Expert: Greg Scholl - 11/12/2010

Question
Hi! I recently acquired a few mid century wood furniture pieces (broyhill
sculptra) on craigslist. I cleaned the pieces with howard's orange oil, then
used howard's restor a finish in walnut to get out a few water ring marks and
then finished with howard's feed and wax. I am noticing however, that as I
cleaned a couple of the pieces it seemed that in some areas the wood
lightened considerably. At first it seemed that the finish had come off, but
then looking closer I noticed that it just looked like grime and a brown kind of
paste. Could this be some kind of furniture polish build up? The now lighter
areas looked especially grimy and clouded before I used cleaner on
them...how can I make those areas match the rest of the piece? Or perhaps
the whole piece is lighter underneath and needs to be cleaned with something
stronger? Thanks for any info, LK

Answer
Very difficult for me to advise you without seeing the pieces...I am not a big fan of the Howards stuff.The Restor a finish can ruin a finish as well...it's a combination of several chemical solvents like Toluene, Xylene, Ethyl Benzene, Isoproponal, all of which can attack and dissolve many finishes, leave them streaky, uneven, and worse...The Orange oil product is basically liquid paraffin, and probably was not a good choice to use before the Restor a finish, because it will leave a waxy residue on the surface, and therefore contaminate the Restor a finish as you apply it, creating a slurry of non compatible products...I have never seen what I would consider professional results from these products..I would have cleaned the pieces with mineral spirits and maybe some 0000 steel wool or a white ScotchBrite pad, and plenty of clean rags. There can be a lot of surface grime on a finish that's 25-40 years old...especially in the house of a smoker.The Broyhill pieces are almost definitely lacquered, and restoring a lacquer finish has to be done carefully, and with the proper products and techniques...anything beyond a simple cleaning and perhaps a paste wax is not really a DIY project, unless one has experience with lacquer.If the finish is intact it can be polished as well with a rubbing compound, but again, this is work that needs to be done by someone experienced in this type of finish restoration.Wish I had better news...and I'm not sure what to tell you to do next, except perhaps have a Pro restorer in to evaluate it with you......post back if need be- Greg