Chilean Myrttle

[Ian the carver]

I am nearing the end of carving a bust of my dad , made from chilean myrttle. Being a light colour red it is a bit dirty from all the handling and prior to finishing off with danish oil I would like to know what I can use to get this 'grime' removed. Any advice would be appreciated.
Ian

[AJcairns]

IAN
try wax & grease remover or prepsol same thing different names it will remove most dirt and grime from timber have used before and have no probs, you wipe on and dry off with another cloth and let dry out before applying any finish. you can get from supercheap and other autoshops or panel supply shops.

hope this helps

AJ

[Paws]

Maybe clean with metho.

[ubeaut]

Good clean hands and sandpaper. Wear cotton gloved or grip gloves if you are staining the timber with your hands and sweat etc.

Washing it down could actually drive the dirt etc deeper into the pores of the timber making it almost impossible to remove and and extremely unsightly after finishing is done.

You might find that the dirt is more of a stain than dirt as the myrtle is a pretty tannin rich and could be darkened by lots of things especially sweaty hands that are handling metal tools. You could make it a lot worse by trying to wash this down especially with any sort of chemical mix. Sanding and extreme cleanliness will be the safest way to clean the piece.

As for the finish I wouldn't be using Danish or any other oil.

Couple coats of weak white shellac and finish with a really good wax. Will give it a much more appealing finish without darkening the timber too much.

[Ian the carver]

Thanks everyone for your very helpful comments.
Ian

[Ian the carver]

Ubeaut
What type of wax should I use after applying the coats of weak shellac. It needs to be in a liquid form so as to get into all the nooks and crannies.
Ian