DerbyDad03 wrote:
Happy Father's Day!

We picked up a couple of pieces of bedroom furniture from Grandma's
basement to use a starter furniture for my daughter's apartment. The
best I can estimate from the label on the back is that the pieces are
at least 82 years old. (The Conewango Furniture Company apparently
went out of business in 1934.)

SWMBO wanted to clean them up, so she grabbed a bottle of Murphy Oil
Soap and went at it. The results can be seen on the rag in the image
below. The "dirt" seems to be more brown that the grey I would expect
if it was just years of dust. The pieces were not caked in grime or
anything like that, in fact they seemed pretty clean.

http://i.imgur.com/9CgQu64.jpg

Murphy Oil Soap does say that it will remove "wax buildup" but I
don't know
if the brown on the rags is old wax or actual finish. The finish was
not shiny before the cleaning and doesn't look much different now.

OK, so the main question is this: What can I (easily) apply in the
next day
or so to enhance/protect the finish, keeping in mind that they will
be loaded into my trailer for the move on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I
do not have time to do a multi-step, hand-rub restoration. We are not
looking to turn these pieces into showroom pieces, just shine them up
a bit for my daughter.

How much of a disservice would I be doing if I used one of the
over-the-counter "polishes", such as Old English, Pledge, etc.?

I would guess that what you got on the rag was wax.

Since you are interested in "down & dirty, I wouldn't use a polish. I would
wipe it down thoroughly with naptha or mineral spirits to remove any
remaining wax then give irt a coat or two of plain old Johnson's Paste Wax,
let it dry and then buff.