UNfinishing

[Withnail]

Hi everyone,
A friend of mine has some truly beautiful bedroom furniture made from recycled timbers. Unfortunately he is a bit on the thick side, and when the furniture maker told me... errr him, to rub it with linseed oil to maintain it he simply bought some from the hardware store and rubbed it in. In spite of the finish being sticky and dull I ...that is he, continued to rub in linseed oil every couple of months despite the fact that it became so sticky and thick that anything left for any time on the bedside tables would be glued there.

What I ...umm he, needs to know is:

1) how to get the layer of crap off the furniture? and

2) what should i ...sorry he, use on it then?

The timbers are blue gum, spotted gum. etc. truly beautiful

cheers

[Toymaker Len]

Hi, I'm not expert but I think you can carefully scrape off the sticky stuff so as to get back to a wood surface... then I don't know... Danish oil is my current favourite, wipe on, leave for ten minutes or rub in further with fine sandpaper then wipe off while it is still wet. Leaves a nice polished looking surface. Good luck.

[q9]

You could wash it off with turps, and buzz it back with a sander if it needs it.

I'd go along with the Danish oil idea, probably what you, err, he meant to use in the first place.

[soundman]

perhaps some u beaut polish reviver could be helpfull???


neil; or robo may be able to advise.

[kenmil]

Perhaps cut it up into cricket bats ?

[echnidna]

It shouldnt be necessary to strip back to bare wood.

I would be inclined to "polish" it daily with a rag dampened in turps until you... err ..he reaches the stage where its no longer sticky.

Then wrap a hot brick in an old blanket and rub it daily on the furniture until all the excess oil is drawn out by the heat and is gone. Then I would use a good furniture wax to polish the surface. Something with a blend of Canuabra wax is best as pure beeswax can become sticky under some circumstances

[Marc]

Yes good advice all, but what is the lesson here?

What was wrong with rubbing linseed oil?

Too much?
not cooked?
Some people polish with olive oil, (conceded in a period of a year or two)

So why didn't the linseed oil oxidate (hardened)?