Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks/baby furniture

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Expert: - 12/16/2010


Question
I just purchased a white crib and was told that baby furniture no longer has the protective coating on it and that it cannot be washed or cleaned with any household cleaner or endust, etc and that water will turn the white to yellow! Is there a safe coating that I can apply to the crib that will protect it?

Answer
Hi Kathy,

Almost every finish, including oil-based polyurethane is non-toxic once the finish cures, but if you are looking for a natural non-toxic finish, the choices are Shellac, 100% tung oil and beeswax.  Due to it needing to be durable, I would stay with the shellac. A crib needs approx. 4 coats of finish allowing 24 hours drying time between coats.  It is important to do the 4 coats to build up a coating which will also bind the wood so that if a baby does chew on the crib, the wood won't splinter. As for a finish causing the white to change color, it is important to do a few tests on unseen areas of the crib before deciding which finish to go with as most finishes will cause some sort of color change.  Thanks for the question and good luck with your project.

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maura macaluso

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I can answer most questions, regarding, wood sculpture, wood carving, carving tools and accessories and different types of woods.I am not an appraiser of carvings nor an antique dealer.

Experience

I do full design work, custom carving, restoration, fabrication, repair and refinishing. I can take a piece of raw wood and turn it into a work of art and I can help you do the same. I am "the" carving instructor for the new york city parks dept. I am heavily involved in carving on the internet and belong to many, many mail lists which are quite active. I am also an international promoter of woodcarving and am affiliated with many master carvers, notably nora hall, originally from holland, now in the U.S. and kalina pavlova, a bulgarian master carver. I routinely communicate with the top names in professional woodcarving nationally and internationally.

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the national association of woodcarvers. the woodcarvers of queens NY, the staten island woodcarvers. the northeast woodcarving association. the world wide carving internet list

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chip chats-the national magazine of woodcarving. also at www.carvinginnyc.com

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Self taught artist and sculptor, 40 years of drawing and painting as a hobby, 5 years of serious woodsculpting. I have my own website and have written a 300 pg book on carving. I have published online tutorials and pictorial projects

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many first place awards

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