RESTORING LUSTRE TO OLD FURNITURE

Over the years, furniture resalers develop tips and tricks to get pieces quickly into shape. Sometimes the goal is a quick fix and sometimes it is to completely restore a piece of furniture. A true connoisseur of antique and vintage items have restoration at the forefront of their agenda. One of my secret weapons to restoring luster to old furniture is Old English Furniture Polish.

shopatblu old english for furniture restoration

I remember my mom using this as a quick fix on her mahogany Duncan Phyfe DRS. I was always amazed by how the scratches disappeared and the wood took on a new sheen. Hmmm…and all these years I thought it was Dad who instilled the “fix-it” bug in me…interesting!

Old English comes in many forms including a lemon oil. I use the dark woods version on walnut, mahogany, most cherry wood and darker maple and pecan wood. The light formula is ideal for blonder woods like natural pine, light maple, etc. Either works wonders on restoring wood furniture.

Two Step Process to Restore Furniture

Most furniture simply needs a good bath and a coat of Old English. I use warm water and Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean any surface dirt from furniture. Murphy’s is a great way to “feed” the wood which keeps the wood from becoming dry and brittle with age. After it’s bath, I allow the piece to dry and then I liberally apply Old English with a cotton rag.

I normally apply the Old English to the rag and rub it into the wood surface. But for more prominent scratches you can use a very fine steel wool pad to help hide the mars. You will see an immediate richness in the wood as you “feed” it with the Old English. Be careful to get into the corners and crevices of the piece to ensure an even coat over all.

Old English is a great way to quickly restore lustre to a piece of furniture. It helps disguise chips, cracks and scratches. Sometimes, it is necessary to use furniture pens to disguise deeper marks and scratches…but that is a topic for another day.

This is a solid oak china cabinet. From the layer of crud on it, it must have been stored in a barn, garage, or basement. After a bath with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a slathering of Old English, this baby is ready for a new home!

I realize that the before picture is pretty poor in quality but it is actually a pretty good representation of what Tiger Love looked like when she arrived at Blu. The after photo shows the beautifully revived wood. Oh yeah,,, and she is now in my kitchen! One of the perks of owning a store…or two!

While furniture polish does not completely restore an antique, it is an excellent source for feeding wood and adding luster back to neglected pieces. Coupled with a Murphy’s Oil Soap bath, this is a tried and true method to revive old furniture.

Other Furniture Restoring Projects

Here are a few other posts of mine where I’ve revived, restored, or refinished old wood.

shopatblu the blue building antiques customize your pumpkins antique headboard mantle

Restoring an 18oo’s Tiger Oak Mantle

Here is one of the many drawers in a bedroom suite that my parents bought new when they were first married back in 1961. I recently gave this glorious MCM set a facelift. The wood was very dry so it soaked up all of the Old English and really took on a refreshed look.