We have inherited a set of furniture which belonged to my GF’s great grandparents, and I am told it is pretty good quality etc. My question to the STW experts is do I need to/ should I do anything to it? When we picked it up yesterday it was very dusty having been in storage for over a year, so i gave it a wipe down with a slightly damp cloth.

Someone suggested a light sanding and some sort of oil- good option to keep it in good condition? Any suggestions of oil?

Also what about the hinges- I would like to “paint” them black to make them stand out, but not sure on the best way to do this.

Pic below is the bedside cabinet, dressing table and mirror. There is also a chest of drawers and a double wardrobe in the set (a fair amount of sanding!!)

Some sort of oil? I used Danish oil a few times, once you build up a few coats it’s very effective, and keeps the look of what is below.

Do the very minimum. People go on about ‘patina’, left on the surface from years of use.

Danish oil looks like a good bet (and rings a bell so may have been the one suggested).

Any ides on the hinges- or are they best left alone?

FFS do not sand it!

I know a professional furniture restorer, I can point her in the way of this thread. I would reiterate that sanding and painting will ruin your furniture, do the very least that you have to do to make it usable.

Glad I asked now! I think it looks and works fine as it is now that the dust has been wiped off. Just wondered how best to prolong its life?

Thanks all!

The National Trust do a book..,.

http://shop.nationaltrust.org.uk/manual-of-housekeeping/p236

you could ask for it in your library.

If it was mine I’d give it a bit of a clean with sugar soap let it dry naturally then go over it with clear Bees wax and call it a day.

go over it with clear Bees wax and call it a day.

It’s all we do.

We got some stuff sandblasted by a restoration place in Wolvo, & brushed beeswax into it. From almost a black colour to a lovely light oak, well worth the time & money. The piece had sat in the garage for 4years & I wanted the space for bikes, so got a piece assessed & then committed – it’s now a centre piece of our kitchen

z1ppy – Member
We got some stuff sandblasted by a restoration place in Wolvo, & brushed beeswax into it. From almost a black colour to a lovely light oak, well worth the time & money. The piece had sat in the garage for 4years & I wanted the space for bikes, so got a piece assessed & then committed – it’s now a centre piece of our kitchen

Nononononono! Do not, under any circumstances do that with wood furniture of any age. That looks like oak, and quality oak, or walnut, teak, or whatever should develop a patina showing use over the years. Dust and loose dirt wiped off with a damp cloth, then a beeswax polish used to bring up the grain. I certainly wouldn’t use Danish Oil, it seals the surface and is basically a varnish; you want the wood to be able to breath, it’s not going to be sat out in the elements so doesn’t need sealing. That almost black colour z1ppy describes is how oak goes as it gets older and more used. Just look at old oak chests and tables in historic houses, they look like ebony.
I’m not a furniture restore, btw, but I’ve done a lot of reading over the years about wood, and how to look after it, and watched plenty of antiques programmes, and one consistent theme has always been to leave solid wood furniture alone, dust it, and use a minimum of polish, and let the timber age naturally, it’s the touching and rubbing of human hands over decades that gives it it’s character. As for the hinges, just going over the metal with the same polish will darken the metal and show its texture, painting it is also a no-no.
That is some really nice looking furniture, love it, care for it, and pass it on. I wish I had stuff like that, and an appropriate house to put it in, I love it!
Any idea of the age, it looks eighteenth century?

A bit of melamine cladding held in with epoxy resin and you will have usable furniture for ages

😉

**************PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS – SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP***************

Fablon, that’s the stuff if you can still find it.

CountZero has given you some good advise. Unless you are sure they’re fairly modern pieces of furniture I wouldn’t consider doing anything other than waxing. If you really feel the need for the hinges and handles to be black use black grate polish carefully. They will look fine with waxed. Hard to tell the age from the pictures. Stuff like this has been reproduced endlessly. The smaller cabinet has some nice medullery rays. But the carvings in the table look a bit clean for any real age unless its been excessively cleaned.

Like the look of the mirror.

Some Fiddes Antique brown supreme wax polish applied with some fine wire wool and a good buff off will see em right. You could use a cheap soft paint brush for the carved bits and to put further thin coats on.

Looking at the photo, the lid of the box-seat is a lot lighter than the sides, which does indicate that it’s been used to sit on over a long period of time, and the grain shows nicely. It’s those sort of things that need to be kept, it’s part of the character. The little notches along the lid edges are a nice little detail, too. Wonder if it’s got a maker’s mark tucked away, somewhere.
I’m really rather jealous… 🙂

Never clean old furniture, or paint or varnish as already said. Some beeswax clear polish and that’s it.

It looks like your furniture is from the Arts and Crafts era, light Oak. It may be in the Eighteenth century style, but the carving is too crisp on the table’s freeze to be from that period. The smaller piece may not be English, or if so as I said from the Arts and Crafts movement or late Victorian Gothic revival period. Do you have any other items you wish to picture?