Cleaning wooden Chess set
Hello,
I have an old wooden chess set (circa 1940s). I think its made out of pine or boxwood. Its unpainted and the white wooden chess pieces are a bit black from use- fingermark stains. I thought of cleaning it up a little. What should I use? Warm soap and water? I also though of rubbing beeswax onto the box to give it a bit of shine and to preserve it. Is that a good idea? Cheers, Wylie |
Cleaning wooden Chess set
Wylie:
Suggest you try a bit of alcohol before the soap and water. Paper towel, a bit of rubbing alcohol from the local pharmacy (chemist, if you like), and rub the dirty parts. I can't reccomend beeswax, per se, as carnuba is a lot harder and better protection. Any quality floor wax will gloss it up and protect. Regards. On Tue, 30 May 2006 10:49:12 +1000, "Wylie Wilde" wrote: Hello, I have an old wooden chess set (circa 1940s). I think its made out of pine or boxwood. Its unpainted and the white wooden chess pieces are a bit black from use- fingermark stains. I thought of cleaning it up a little. What should I use? Warm soap and water? I also though of rubbing beeswax onto the box to give it a bit of shine and to preserve it. Is that a good idea? Cheers, Wylie |
Cleaning wooden Chess set
On Tue, 30 May 2006 10:49:12 +1000, "Wylie Wilde"
wrote: Hello, I have an old wooden chess set (circa 1940s). I think its made out of pine or boxwood. Its unpainted and the white wooden chess pieces are a bit black from use- fingermark stains. I thought of cleaning it up a little. What should I use? Warm soap and water? I also though of rubbing beeswax onto the box to give it a bit of shine and to preserve it. Is that a good idea? Think about taking it to an antique dealer to see if it's worth anything before you mess with it. I watched a segment of Antiques Roadshow where a woman had a large cabinet the she had refinished. Original finish (cracked varnish) 300,000 $. Refinished value - only 30,000 $. pete |
Cleaning wooden Chess set
Suggest you try a bit of alcohol before the soap and water.
I'd suggest alcohol for cleaning also, but TEST FIRST ON A HIDDEN AREA!!! If your chess pieces are finished with shellac, the alcohol will soften the shellac and could potentially remove the finish. I'll second the recommendation for carnauba wax - I just finished a toy/puzzle with orange oil/carnauba wax blend and it buffed out very nicely. Good luck, Andy |
Cleaning wooden Chess set
Hello,
I don't think its varnished at all. Just plain I think. I'll go and use alcohol but I'll just try it on one piece first. Cheers, Yau-ming |
Cleaning wooden Chess set
On 29 May 2006 21:00:42 -0700, "Andy" wrote:
I'd suggest alcohol for cleaning also, but TEST FIRST ON A HIDDEN AREA!!! If your chess pieces are finished with shellac, the alcohol will soften the shellac and could potentially remove the finish. Andy's absolutely right! Test on the bottom of a piece first! While shellac seems unlikely as a finish for something meant to be handled a lot, you never know. Shoulda thought of that when I initially replied. An alternative to carnauba is one of the micro-crystalline waxes (I use Renaissance). They are easy to apply and buff and seem impervious to handling. Regards. |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:58 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2014 DIYbanter