My first project

[bristolwoodwork]

Hello there,

I was hoping to come here and perhaps ask a little advice on what I should do with my new purchase.

I have just bought these two bedside cabinets (well this is wha I intend to use them for anyway). They look like they could do with a good clean up and some new protection before use.

Since bringing them home I have suddenly thought I have not a clue what to do, and have trawled a little through the internet looking for advice. Then I came acorss you lovely bunch of people so here I am.

I believe they are Walnut veneer possibly as the inside of the drawers seem to have a noticeable edge to them.

The varnish ? on the top of the drawer is very cracked in parts and on one of the units in particular the colouration seems very dark. Perhaps from it being used with a water glass ontop which has discoloured the units. (my speculation anyway).

Now I dont want to rush in and do something stupid that will ruin them even more, and would love for the potential to shine through.

Any advice on stage 1 >?

I have read that people use fine wire wool, but this seems a big step...

I have gently rubbed them with a lightly damp cloth to see if there was any dirt on the surface, but not much came off.

Ok quite some rambling, sorry about that, but any advice would be gratefully recieved.

I have attached some photos for your consideration. ( Please note that the photos make the pattern alot more visable due to the use of the flash)

Thanks

Dave

[RufflyRustic]

Wow - What a find! Good on you for not going at it like a bull at a gate. I reckon with a bit of tender treatment they will revive brilliantly! Oh, by the way, Hello Dave and Welcome


My suggestion would be to have a soft cloth, dampen with warm water and firmly but gently work off the dirt so you see more clearly what needs to be done. You will more than likely need to very lightly sand back the current finish on it, clean the dust off and then I'd be very inclined to put a few coats of shellac on it and wax it. This would keep the history of the cabinets whilst bringing them back to life

Cheers
Wendy

[AlexS]

Great find. As RR says, minimal treatment. First step is to clean them up. If you can get our sponsor's Polish Reviver over there, try that.

[Woodwould]

Firstly, welcome! Secondly, well done for taking the cautious approach.

As can clearly be seen from (the excellent) pictures 5 and 7, the polish has completely broken down, so there is nothing to revive. Applying reviver to these cabinets in this condition would most likely result in the oil in the reviver darkening the exposed veneer and doing very little for the remaining shot polish. They would simply come up looking even patchier and be more difficult to restore properly.

I wouldn't normally recommend this to a novice, but I think it's justified in this case: I would very carefully remove the remaining polish with 00 steel wool and meths and plenty of clean rags to mop up the resultant grey soup. A final wipe over with meths will remove any residual scum and also show up any recalcitrant islands of polish.

Once you are happy you've removed all traces of the decayed polish, you can begin building up fresh coats of shellac. Begin by brushing on one or two coats of shellac, cutting back between coats with 00 steel wool. Once you have a sound base, then you can begin padding the polish on until it builds up to a smooth sheen. After allowing plenty of time for the polish to harden, you can then cut it back with either 0000 steel wool or rottenstone, Brasso or any commercial cutting compound and then give it a light coat of wax.

[bristolwoodwork]

Thanks guys for the quick responses.

So the stuff breaking down on the top is just an old layer of old polish and not varnish as I assumed. In some places I can almost scrape it off with my fingernail it is that old/decayed , so will take the gentle gentle approach and then try the method of 00 steel wool, meths and clean rags.

Why do you think one is somewhat darker than the other, could they have been just left in different parts of a room for some time, one in shade and one in the light by a window perhaps ?

Seems like they may be worth my hesitant £20 investment then