I'm the kind of DIY-er who imagines elaborate and wonderful furniture re-finishing ideas and is consistently too busy, lazy, or pre-occupied to execute them. But in desperate need of bedroom dressers I dropped $70 for a pair from craigslist that had good bones, but were grimy, scratched and in need of help. After a few hours of research and advice from my local hardware store, I found out that I could easily give the dressers a remarkable facelift in a few hours for less than $20 with hardly any toxic chemicals.
The internet offers a wide range of advice for cleaning and refinishing vintage furniture from complicated finish stripping to techniques that only work on certain kinds of wood — and there are enough products on the market to leave a person totally confused.
The steps below will work on any kind of finished wood, but results will depend on the shape of the original piece. The furniture won't necessarily be back to perfect shape, but it will look (and smell) a whole lot better. For an expensive antique or seriously damaged piece, you may want to consider consulting a professional furniture restorer before doing anything yourself.
What You Need
Murphy's Oil Soap
Howard Orange Oil (or other orange oil furniture polish)
Grade #0000 Steel Wool
Soft Rags
Instructions
1. Mix the Murphy's Oil Soap with water and wash the piece with a rag dampened in the mixture. Be careful not to get the piece too wet — wipe down with a dry rag if there is a lot of water left on the surface. Repeat until rags no longer pick up any grime.
2. If there is still dirt or paint stuck to the piece, rub it gently with very fine #0000 steel wool in the direction of the wood grain. You may want to rub the whole surface to even it out — it will look duller after doing so, but the Orange Oil will make it shiny again. Wash again with the Murphy's Oil Soap and water to remove dust and dirt that the Steel Wool dislodged.
3. Spray the orange oil on a dry cloth and rub it over the piece. Faded areas may need a little extra oil. If any oil remains sitting on the surface, rub it with a clean, dry cloth and buff to a shine.
Notes
• After step 2, you can use scratch touch-up pen or paint to minimize the appearance of scratches, or better yet use a walnut.
• Results vary depending on the original condition and quality of the piece. The smaller dresser that I cleaned was made with a higher quality wood and though it was in rougher shape, it turned out better than the other one which was made with cheaper wood veneer.
Images: Sarah Rainwater
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Comments (23)
How timely! I just did the same "refinish" on a little antique oak dresser I found on Craigslist. It had an ugly, splotchy patina, but with a little oil soap, scrubbing and oil, it looks great now, no stripping or refinishing necessary.
This is a nice option! I'm lazier than that, though, so I mostly just rub my thrift store finds down with a little Old English. They still look kinda beat up, but nicer, and I like a little wabi-sabi in my decorating.
Paste wax all the way. I just bought a bedroom set for my son from Craigslist, and with a little dark finish paste wax, it looks absolutely brand new. LOVE a hand waxed finish.
I'm bookmarking this post. Thanks.
As someone who has spent the last week or so dying and staining our new kitchen cabinets with a formula that we experimented with to get *just right,* I am floored by the fact that some problems have the simplest solutions - A WALNUT!?! Amazing. And brilliant.
Looks good! I just got a cute 50's era hutch off Craigslist to paint (the outside is really beat up and some of the veneer is chipped off as well), but the inside is nice so I'd like to keep that as is. Assuming I can ever get the smoke smell out (I'm still crossing my fingers that the baking soda and vinegar will work!) I'll try this on the inside to spiff it up a bit.
Wow! The dressers look amazing. I always use Old English (like my mom did, so I never gave it a second thought) but it has a strange smell that usually makes me think it's deadly.
Does anyone know where I can find Murphy's Oil Soap in the UK? thanks!
Wow. I used Howard's Restor-a-finish, with good results, on pine kitchen cabinets, though it was very smelly, in that bad way that lets you know you are killing brain cells. (Yes, adequate ventilation is required, but wasn't truly available with the kitchen in the middle of a long brownstone apartment.) To think this might have worked just as well, without the smelly stuff. Thanks for the tip...dressers look great!
I guess I'm just lazy, but the orange oil is enough for me. It can make the oldest piece of furniture just shine.
to second textiles above, howard's restore-a-finish works quite well -- far better than the above which clean and protect, but don't really repair or renew.
watco danish oil (and for more protection, minwax's wipe-on polyurethane) can also be a useful flavor in the juice bar.
and for a final top-coat coat, be careful of cheap paste waxes which can leave white deposits. check out liberon's black-bison in neutral or a coordinating tone.
for a quick-renew, check our howard's feed-and-wax which can bring some depth (but not really the same level of lustre and protection as a good paste wax).
Is the orange oil better than the "danish oil" or other wood oils?
I had some amazing results with Restore-a-Finish on a drop leaf table I bought for $20 and was expecting to have to paint. I figured I'd see what it could do and it looks amazing. Evened out the faded bits. Its a bit chemically, but now that I have a bottle I'm sure I'll use it again. The biggest negative is that I bought "Mahogany" formula so I can't use it on light woods.
I use 3 parts olive oil plus 1 part vinegar. It works amazing well. Most of the scratches and damage and dry spots just disappeared.
http://geekdetails.com/blog/?p=5477
This was very helpful for my banister and hand rails. Thanks!!
Amanda, thanks for the tip! I have furniture to spruce and olive oil that needs to be used up.
I liked the before better. Just kidding! The after looks great!
great post, whoda thunk it could be so easy :)
I bought an upright piano with a smell SO RANK there was no way I could bring it into the living room...and this was after we'd restored the outside. We tipped the piano onto its side (not as hard as you'd think) and painted the inside of it with a mixture of denatured alcohol and eucalyptus oil...over and over for several days. It worked like a charm. If you bought, say, a chest of drawers that smells like smoke, this method works great. Eucalyptus has been used for centuries to deodorize (and embalm). It certainly got rid of the three pack/day for forty years smell for us! The eucalyptus smell eventually fades.
Sloopy65, if you are still reading this (or anyone who knows), do you know if this works for wood drawer with what I think is a mold/mildew smell (think old wood piece was stored somewhere that flooded, didn't employ sniff the drawers test before I bought it, live and learn)...nothing I have tried has worked.
@ Textiles. You might try a very light bleach/water mixture first - you need to be sure all the mildew organisms are dead, otherwise anytime it gets damp (even from humidity in the air), the smell can come back
Finally some beautiful not that old furniture that people have decided to salvage and restore to their original beauty instead of just drowning them under a few dozens coats of pastel blue paint.
And the result looks great!
don't use paste wax on danish or scandinavian oil rubbed finishes!!