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Re: Use of furniture polish



The Washington Post had an article about this today. The web site is below, 
and I?ve enclosed the text specifically about waxes. If you are interested in 
the correct care of old furniture, it is worth reading the entire article.

Bill Hollinger
Conservation Resources
8000-H Forbes Place
Springfield, VA 22151
(800) 634 6932 phone
(703) 321 0629 fax

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3239-2001Mar14.html

Giving Age Its Due 

"Generally, we do not advocate using commercially available products, mostly 
because you don't know what's in them," says Heaver. These waxes "contain 
proprietary products, and if you use something inappropriate and your finish 
deteriorates before your eyes, you won't be able to go to the restorer and 
say what it was and reverse it."
To avoid: products like Olde English, which can cause dark spots if it seeps 
into cracks in the finish; or spray polishes containing silicone, which is 
very hard to remove.
To use: a microcrystalline type of wax, such as Renaissance Wax, a British 
product available from conservation suppliers; or Butcher's Boston Polish, 
which contains carnuba resin, usually found in hardware stores; or hard-paste 
"bowling alley" wax, also available at hardware stores. 
You can wax once a year or whenever you feel like you want a little more 
sheen. Use enough elbow grease, and always apply with the grain, then buff it 
off. A finger touch should leave no smear across the grain. Otherwise, just 
dust when needed. 
You think when you're waxing an antique that you're nourishing the wood. But 
in fact, the wax doesn't penetrate to the wood because it's blocked by the 
finish. That's why Stephen Rice says, "One thing that's really important is 
what I call feeding the furniture with beeswax or a paste wax."
The parts of the furniture that are supposed to be fed are the raw surfaces, 
the unpolished areas -- bottoms of drawers and legs, underneath the piece, 
the back, inside the bottom of an armoire -- usually about three-quarters of 
the surface of the whole piece.
"When I say feed with wax, I mean lay on with a wool cloth or rag or any old 
throwaway T-shirt a heavy layer and allow it to soak in for 24 hours without 
buffing. It's like a skin cream for wood."
If you do this once a year, after 10 years you will have laid in so much wax 
that drier atmospheres won't cause as much shrinkage.
"It's drudgery, but if you do it for at least five years, you will deter the 
drying out by about 40 to 60 percent," he adds. "Just make sure you clean out 
glop from the corners with a toothbrush so it won't stain any contents 
replaced inside." 

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