Mike Halmarack ... wrote:

On Sun, 07 May 2006 11:04:57 +0100, Tim S wrote:

Tim S wrote:


I thought I'd give the bookshelf a buff up before putting it upstairs,
so I bought some carnauba/beeswax and tried some out on top. Shined up
nicely by hand, except for one area, where there seems to be a surface
deposit of something hard that looks like bloom. I can scratch this off
with my nail.

So I think I should clean it up with something before attempting to
polish. Not much wrong with the item, no deep scratches or stains - so I
don't really want to strip it completely.


SWMBO reckons it's soot - I think she might be right... Vinegar didn't
touch it so I'm off the carefully experiment with white spirit on an
inconspicuous bit...

Cheers

Tim

If ordinary soap and water doesn't work, why not try sugar soap?
It'll take the shine off for sure but that may not be a bad thing if
you intend to re-wax the piece. Sugar soap, depending on the strength
of the solution, might tend to remove any desirable patina (dirt) too.
Another alternative is a very light rub over the area of unwanted
bloom with extra-fine wire wool dipped in oil to lubricate the
process. This will have more of a tendency to produce a distinct patch
than sugar soap would.

Hi

Thanks for the tip - I have some results now...

Sorry - I didn't see your post until I'd come back from
B&Q (spit - 3 quid for a pair of M6 expanding bolts - plan ahead next time
and use Screwfix...)

I tried a little white spirit (premium less pongy version - not sure if that
makes any difference). With a little rubbing I was able to shift the
deposit, so I then went over the whole top gently with a rag and more
spirit.

It dried matt, which is what I was expecting - certainly didn't take
vast amounts of the finish off, just a little along with some dirt - which
is exactly what I was aiming for.

10 minutes later, after it had dried off, I polished it up with the beeswax
by hand and it came up a treat.

So I'll follow that process for the rest of it. Not sure if this would be
the best idea on an antique but that's not a problem here.

Cheers

Tim