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

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

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

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

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

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.