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vinegar, linseed oil, & turp

vinegar, linseed oil, & turp

Old 07-01-2011, 03:36 PM
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I have heard this mixture is great for cleaning antique furniture and kitchen cabinets. Ok how do you use it? Does it remove shellac or varnish?
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Old 07-01-2011, 04:06 PM
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Here's one that is very good. I put it in another area here. I had others comment on how good it was.
=======================================
I have been going through a lot of papers, decluttering.

I found one that I had printed out in 2005, from one of the DIY internet sites. It was about stripping pieces of antiques.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Quote==Don't you dare strip that table, no matter how grimy and gunked-up it may look. collectors prize antiques with the original finish!! Reveal the treasure hiding underneath with this Free FORMULA FOR FURNITURE JIKCE.

1 part white vinegar
1 part boiled linseed oil (Don't use raw) Buy from store.
1 part turpentine (from your paint or hardware store)

Combine all 3 ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake like crazy. Then rub it into the furniture with a piece of 0000-grade steel wool. Wipe off with soft cloth. Years of grime melt away, leaving you with a smooth, beautiful surface.
=======================================
I don't remember using this, I think it was about the time my husband had another stroke so I stuck all my papers in a file drawer and forgot them till now.
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Old 07-01-2011, 04:47 PM
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No, please don't use this. DH's business is furniture repair and restoration.

Instead, DH recommends washing with Dawn dish washing liquid and water, and then wiping the piece down with mineral spirits.

This excerpt is pretty technical. It's written by Donald C. Williams
Senior Furniture Conservator, ConservationAnalytical
Laboratory at the Smithsonian Institution

Drying oils, such as linseed, tung, or walnut oil, are a different matter altogether. These materials solidify, or "dry" through a process of chemical reaction with the air called oxidation. The drying process polymerizes the oil, making it increasingly intractable with time and more difficult to remove with cleaners or solvents. This is fine if oil is employed as the finish, but not good if it is used as a polish. By itself, having a polish which is difficult to remove would be irritating but not insurmountable. Unfortunately, this is not the whole story. As drying oils age, they tend to become yellow or brown. Also, drying oils are chromogenic (they become colored) in the presence of acids. In this instance the oil adopts the dark, muddy brown/black opaque appearance so prevalent in antique furniture. Traditionally, cleaning/polishing concoctions were comprised of linseed oil, turpentine, beeswax, and vinegar (acetic acid). This cleaning/polishing method, used widely even in the museum field until recently, was and is a disaster waiting to happen. The results of this approach are readily apparent to even the casual observer; a thick incrustation of chocolate colored goo which is neither hard enough to be durable nor soft enough to wipe off easily. Thus, due to the polymerization of the oil as it dries and the reaction of the oil with acetic acid, the furniture is left with an unsightly coating which is very difficult to remove without damaging the surface of the object.
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Old 07-01-2011, 05:02 PM
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thanks for the information


Originally Posted by quilt1950
No, please don't use this. DH's business is furniture repair and restoration.

Instead, DH recommends washing with Dawn dish washing liquid and water, and then wiping the piece down with mineral spirits.

This excerpt is pretty technical. It's written by Donald C. Williams
Senior Furniture Conservator, ConservationAnalytical
Laboratory at the Smithsonian Institution

Drying oils, such as linseed, tung, or walnut oil, are a different matter altogether. These materials solidify, or "dry" through a process of chemical reaction with the air called oxidation. The drying process polymerizes the oil, making it increasingly intractable with time and more difficult to remove with cleaners or solvents. This is fine if oil is employed as the finish, but not good if it is used as a polish. By itself, having a polish which is difficult to remove would be irritating but not insurmountable. Unfortunately, this is not the whole story. As drying oils age, they tend to become yellow or brown. Also, drying oils are chromogenic (they become colored) in the presence of acids. In this instance the oil adopts the dark, muddy brown/black opaque appearance so prevalent in antique furniture. Traditionally, cleaning/polishing concoctions were comprised of linseed oil, turpentine, beeswax, and vinegar (acetic acid). This cleaning/polishing method, used widely even in the museum field until recently, was and is a disaster waiting to happen. The results of this approach are readily apparent to even the casual observer; a thick incrustation of chocolate colored goo which is neither hard enough to be durable nor soft enough to wipe off easily. Thus, due to the polymerization of the oil as it dries and the reaction of the oil with acetic acid, the furniture is left with an unsightly coating which is very difficult to remove without damaging the surface of the object.
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Old 07-01-2011, 06:43 PM
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Originally Posted by quilt1950
No, please don't use this. DH's business is furniture repair and restoration.

Instead, DH recommends washing with Dawn dish washing liquid and water, and then wiping the piece down with mineral spirits.

This excerpt is pretty technical. It's written by Donald C. Williams
Senior Furniture Conservator, ConservationAnalytical
Laboratory at the Smithsonian Institution

Drying oils, such as linseed, tung, or walnut oil, are a different matter altogether. These materials solidify, or "dry" through a process of chemical reaction with the air called oxidation. The drying process polymerizes the oil, making it increasingly intractable with time and more difficult to remove with cleaners or solvents. This is fine if oil is employed as the finish, but not good if it is used as a polish. By itself, having a polish which is difficult to remove would be irritating but not insurmountable. Unfortunately, this is not the whole story. As drying oils age, they tend to become yellow or brown. Also, drying oils are chromogenic (they become colored) in the presence of acids. In this instance the oil adopts the dark, muddy brown/black opaque appearance so prevalent in antique furniture. Traditionally, cleaning/polishing concoctions were comprised of linseed oil, turpentine, beeswax, and vinegar (acetic acid). This cleaning/polishing method, used widely even in the museum field until recently, was and is a disaster waiting to happen. The results of this approach are readily apparent to even the casual observer; a thick incrustation of chocolate colored goo which is neither hard enough to be durable nor soft enough to wipe off easily. Thus, due to the polymerization of the oil as it dries and the reaction of the oil with acetic acid, the furniture is left with an unsightly coating which is very difficult to remove without damaging the surface of the object.
How do they remove grimy and gunked-up stuff from old wood and kitchen cabinets? I have heard liquid gold is the worst stuff you can use. Winter smoke and grease is really stickly stuff to remove.........
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