Antique Furniture Tips for Scratches, Touch-Up, Restoring the Finish to your newly acquired antique or  sprucing up some piece's you have and didn't know how to fix.  This is the Guide for you. Also includes Repair Tips.

We at tulsa*antiques have been selling on ebay for seven years  and rely on proven products for our antique furniture. We  now have the opportunity to pass on our knowledge to the ebay community and our buyers.

Cleaning your Antique:

If the antique wood has become soiled with years of use and or neglect I would recommend Howard's Clean-A-Finish. It will remove dirt, dust, grime, hand oil from using, wax build up, other oils on top of the finish without harming the finish. It will also remove the sticky residue from price tags. For a lighter cleaning use Howard's Orange Oil. It add's some oil back into the finish without any waxy build up.

Scratch Cover/White Rings/Faded Color: Help!

The best product I have found is Howard's Restore-A-Finish. It comes in several different wood colors such as natural, light oak, dark oak, dark walnut, mahogany, cherry. Cut up an old cotton T-shirt and use as your cloth.  Don some plastic gloves. Pour some product liberally on the small folded cloth and wipe the entire antique furniture down or just the area (scratches) you want to cover, then wipe dry. Excellent for dry faded wood. Be sure to choose the right color for your furniture. You do not want to use a color that is too dark for your finish. If you use too dark of a color it will actually seep into the aged cracks of the finish and make them look worse. After applying take a clean cloth and wipe away the excess, let the furniture dry. You will be amazed how this product brings your furniture back to life and makes all those scratches disappear before your eyes.  It does have a little smell so we recommend moving the piece outside or to the garage if you are doing a large area until dry. Use an old tooth brush to get into deeply carved or hard to reach area's.

Restoring the Finish:

For finishes that have become very dry with age and cracking I would recommend Howard's Feed-N-Wax as it will add the needed moisture and will leave a shine and protection that will last longer than the orange oil. Want a a hand rub high gloss shine use Howard's Citrus Shield Paste Wax for the longest lasting protection. For Table Top's use Tung Oil Finish for a long lasting protective finish. Three coats are recommended.

Splashes or Rubs of Paint on Furniture:

Many times we find that previous owners didn't protect their furniture when they painted their walls or ceilings of their homes using a drop cloth. If you find tiny specks of paint on your furniture they can be removed easily by using either 000 steel wool rubbing the paint off. For stubborn spots use a window paint scraper, the kind that has a razor blade on the end that slides out and locks into position. Carefully lift off the little specks with the blade. If you happen to accidentally scratch the wood use the restore-a-finish above. Don't dig deep into the wood so as not to gouge it, stay level on the surface.  Sometime's furniture gets minor rubs of paint from bumping against a wall or other painted furniture or on moving day. These can easily be removed using the 000 steel wool, again finish with the restore-a-finish.  

Loose Chair Joints and All Wood Joints:

All Antique Chairs will loosen at some point and no one wants to lose the use of one or two chairs in their set due to wobbly legs. We recommend an excellent product called Chair-Loc. It isn't an adhesive but rather a resin that soaks into the wood swelling the wood fibers until the joint is tight. Let the chair sit for 24 hours and the joint will be as tight as the day it was made. This product works for all wood joints.

Best Books for Furniture Restoration:

Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner

Conservation of Furniture by Shayne Rivers, Nick Umney

Any of the series of books by Jeff Jewitt

Be sure to visit our auctions and About Me page for more tips in the future.  It's been a pleasure providing beautiful antique and vintage furniture to all we have served.