Expert: Eileen Cronk - 6/14/2007

Question
I was curious if you would know how I can find out what kind of wood my furniture is made of? I know it's from witz furniture industries, I have a table, 6 chairs and a buffet. I know they have veneer on them. And I am trying to make them look nicer. I have tried cleaning some of it with mineral spirits. It has only gone ok. There are lots of areas where the finish has been warn down. I just was curious if you had any tips for me. I read alot of your posts and that helped. But I am still a bit confused. I want to try as hard as I can to make them nice without having to do a complete refinishing job, because I don't know how the veneer would hold up. Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi Kacy
Nice to hear from you.
The mineral spirits and super fine steel wool are the best cleaners for furniture in my opinion..for what its worth LOL.
There is one more step however which you missed.
After the cleaning, either a good waxing, or my own choice is always a light coat of low luster tung oil applied with a rag. I hate waxing LOL...too much work.
And the oil wears off just like the wax over time but it does not go gummy in humidity and build up like wax.
This will not harm the veneer
Good Luck and a good question.
Kindest Regards
Eileen
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