Cleaning wood cabinets

[mikey5967]

Guys, what do some of you use to make those old wood TV cabinets shine like new?

I have an old Hi Fi Console coming and need to give the cabinet a good cleaning and shining up. What do you guys recommend?

[whitetrash]

The first thing to do is clean all the grime and gunk off the wood, I use the "As-Seen-on-TV" stuff called Quick N Brite. Then you follow using stuff like Old English or Murphy's funiture oil. If the wood is dry, you might have to apply the stuff a couple times over a week to stop the wood from soaking it all in off the surface.

[Kamakiri]

Try Goop hand cleaner, it is ABSOLUTELY HANDS DOWN THE BEST!!

Don't use any other brand, and nothing with pumice or lotion. In fact, if you can't find any locally, PM me with your address and I'll send you a can, I bought a lifetime supply from some place on the net

I just work it with a towel, if it's heavily soiled, use a toothbrush.

[mikey5967]

Thanks guys...this is the kind of info i need.

One more question......what do you guys use to hide small scratches? If I could get by without having the cabinet refinished that would be great.

[whitetrash]

If you want a low tech solution on just a few scratches, a brown crayon will do just fine. They also sell furniture pens at the home depot that will do the same and be a little more permanent. If you have a bunch of scratches and they are not deep (just on the surface), you can refinish just the vanish after a light sanding. I've done a few old wood case tube radios using a spray urethane clear coat and they come out looking like new. There is a difference in appearance over the old vanish or shellac finishes, but it will take you 1/8 the time to do it with the modern stuff.

[ChuckA]

The waterless hand cleaner will dissolve the dirt great and just melts it off the cabinet. Another cleaner used by antique collectors is called "Cotton Cleanser" very similar to hand cleaner a little more agressive. Howards Restor-A-Finish is excellent for light cleaning and because it comes in different shades, from neutral to mahogany it works wonders on scratches in the finish. For any stubborn areas use #0000 steel wool, a toothbrush in the hard to get corners.

Finally to bring back that shine use a liquid car wax, only the liquid type. It will remove the top layer of oxydized finish and bring up a beautiful shine. This will only work if there is a good top layer of lacquer remaining.

On the antique market there are also various types of waxes in colors, from natural like Butchers wax to "black" waxes that will hide a lot of imperfections on dark finished cabinets.

One finish I have had no luck with restoring is blonde, everytime I have tried something it turns out worse than it was when I started. Anyone have luck at this?

Chuck