You are here:
- Home
- Style
- Antiques
- Collectibles-General (Antiques)
- Wooden cedar chest
Collectibles-General (Antiques)/Wooden cedar chest
Advertisement
Question
I would love to know what I can use to clean my great-gmas chest it is from the 1800's and my son had a throw rug on top of it,spilled water on it and it dried now the rugs fibers are imbedded in the wood. I'm afraid to use regular cleaning products because im not sure what will happen to the wood. Any info you could give me would be great..Thank you so much...Laura
Hi Laura
Nice to hear from you.
So sorry this has happened.
I am afraid you will have to get a bit aggressive with this problem.
Take some medium steel wool dipped in mineral spirits and rub with the grain till the fibers are gone.
You may find you break through the finish and even remove some of the color. If this happens, get a can of minwax stain in the same tone and go over these areas with that. In fact it will not hurt at all to go over the entire top with the stain provided you go over the entire top first with the steel wool and spirits.
Then a coat of low lustre tung oil and the chest will be as nice as before.
Good Luck
Eileen
Related Articles
Answers by Expert:
- Michael Andrew Wilson
- robert klein
- Fred Taylor
- Rodger Knutson
- Eileen Cronk
- Bill & Jan Berning
- Irene Schwall
- Barbara K. Acchino
- Rex Ransome
- Larry Bieza
- Anderson's Restorations-Rob Anderson
- DARWIN D. BEARLEY
- Chad Boekelheide
- The Wicker WomanŽ-Cathryn Peters
- David Burritt
- Bob Wiley
- Marc A. Hess
- Tom Novitski
- Marvin D. Miller
- Robert Barnes
- Frederic Rozier
- G Zimmerman
- Jack Freund
- Russell Barnes
- Dennis Wolbach
- David Silver
Eileen Cronk
Expertise
I can answer most questions about the repairing and refinishing of all your old furniture items (the things we call antiques). I can also give you advice on what wood items to choose and what wood items to avoid at auctions, flea markets etc. I DO NOT give appraisals on antiques as this is not my field of expertise.
Experience
I have been repairing, refinishing and of course buying old furniture for the past 30 years. On any given weekend I can be found at auction sales or flea markets searching out a good buy. I have taken several courses in this area over the years, but I find "Hands On" learning to be the best teacher. I can help you avoid the pitfalls and problems of this wonderful rewarding craft.
©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.