Lillian Tip #48: Cleaning Wood Wood should be dusted regularly with a lint-free, hemmed duster. An unhemmed cloth can leave traces of lint, and threads may tear at splinters.
Never use a liquid or a spray polish or wax on valuable wood if they contain silicone or acrylic resin. These ingredients seal wood, and wood that loses elasticity cannot breathe.
Murphy Oil Soap is a natural soap containing vegetable oils and glycerin which removes dirt from wood while preserving the wood's finish.
Lillian Tip #64: How to Detect Antique Furniture If you are unsure as to the age of a piece of furniture here are a couple of tips to determine if it antique: - In genuine antique furniture marks of the tools used by the original craftsman can easily be seen on all but the finished surfaces.
- Sometimes the tooth marks of the up-and-down pit saw used to cut the boards from the log can be seen. These marks will always be parallel, if tooth marks are a wide arc this indicates a buzz or circular saw and a manufacturing date of after the middle of the 19th century.
- Another thing to observe is the replacement of feet and spliced legs. Replacement feet are generally too smooth and perfect when compared to the rest of the piece. A fine cut or groove between the base of the leg and the top of the foot is also an indication of a replacement. When all is original the leg and foot would have been turned from a single piece of wood.
- Drawer fronts should be of the same wood as the rest of the piece and should match in grain and tone. Drawer interiors were never shellacked or varnished and a plywood bottom indicates a replacement.
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