Your Furniture Isn’t Hungry – You Can’t Feed It!

She's smiling because she knows that all her furniture needs to stay beautiful is an ocassional dusting.

                                or

The Truth About Furniture Care – Don’t Oil Your Furniture!

        I read a very good article on furniture care this past week by one of my favorite writers on furniture, Fred Taylor. This article hit home with me because so many of my customers tell me they use lemon or orange oil to polish their furniture…it makes me gasp! So do yourself a favor and read on to understand why furniture polishes don’t really do anything good for your furniture and actually from a furniture refinisher’s point of view, polishes hurt the finish more than most other things you could do!

       There is a false belief many people hold that has been taught mostly from the advertising for furniture care products over the past 50 years.  Virtually every commercially advertised household furniture care product proudly claims among its contents such ingredients as “lemon oil” or, more recently, “orange oil.” Well, while lemon oil and orange oil do in fact exist, what, if anything, do they have to do with the maintenance of furniture finishes?

Lemons are delicious but have no place in furniture polishing!

       The oils of various citrus products are derived by the process of cold pressing or low heat rendering of the skins of the fruit. This gives a concentrated concoction of natural oil that is highly acidic. It is a natural, safe degreaser and as such has a useful place in some household and commercial cleaning applications.

       But that is as far as it goes. Lemon oil, in an appropriate concentration, is a cleaner. Period. The same goes for orange oil. These oils have no magical properties that lend extended life or beauty to wood or its finishes. You have only to read the advertisements for some of these products to realize the lack of understanding of furniture finishes on the part of the manufacturers. For example, one famous lemon oil product, which also contains carnuba wax, says in its ad that it “…treats the wood and enriches the beauty of the grain.” How can it “treat” the wood if it never touches the wood through the finish? The same manufacturer has a “cabinet and panel treatment” that it claims has “… higher absorption by the wood resulting in higher preservation.” Yet there is nothing in the product that will penetrate the modern lacquer, shellac or urethane finish found on most cabinetwork. So how can it lead to “higher absorption by the wood” if it never reaches the wood?

       Another highly advertised product, The (unmanned) Solution, claims to be a mixture of beeswax, lemon oil and a specially designed mineral base oil. It then claims that the product is a “… true wood feeder that is fed into the wood during application.” The last time I looked, the wood in my antique furniture had been basically dead for some time and no longer required feeding of any sort. What it needs, however, is protection from too much or too little atmospheric moisture, and that is accomplished by a surface finish.

       Commercial products are not the only perpetrators of myths about oil on furniture, though. Furniture care literature and the Internet are full of home recipes for furniture polish. One online guru states that, while the traditional recipe for a good polish calls for a quarter-cup of linseed or vegetable oil and a few drops of vinegar, she prefers the opposite of a quarter-cup of vinegar and a few drops of oil, since in warm weather the oil may get rancid (!?!) She then states: “The vinegar pulls the dirt out of the wood and the few drops of oil lubricates the wood so that it doesn’t dry out.” Lubricates the wood? Was it squeaking? No amount of oil will keep wood from drying out when the relative humidity is below 30 percent.

Oil furniture polishes do more harm than good!

       Another “expert” on a vegetarian food page suggests a furniture polish/dust remover made of a half-cup lemon juice and a half-cup olive oil. Maybe she should stick to cooking, because she sure doesn’t know anything about furniture polish or finishes.

       The problem with oil—any kind of oil applied to finished surface—is what happens next. There are basically two kinds of oil: drying and non-drying. The non-drying is the least harmful initially, since it doesn’t undergo a chemical reaction. The most common non-drying oils are lemon oil, orange oil and mineral oil. These oils have a very slow evaporation rate and remain on the surface in a microscopically thin semi-liquid state for days, even weeks, after application. As a result, they produce a surface that smears easily and also attracts every particle of dust, pollen and pollution that passes its way. The build-up must be removed eventually.

       Drying oils—such as tung oil or linseed oil—are especially harmful, since they actually undergo a chemical change as they dry and attempt to bond chemically with the surface. When they are applied to the finish surface they become hard through oxidation. These oils become difficult to remove and, over time, the accumulation of layers of dried oil forms a shell over the old finish and eventually turns dark, obscuring the original surface.

Good quality furniture paste waxes come in a variety of colors to help hide scratches.

      The simple fact is that unless the original finish on a of a piece of furniture was an oil finish, then oil has no place on a piece of furniture. Think of the finish on your furniture as the finish on your car. They are both coatings designed to protect the basic structure underneath, steel or wood. They are designed not to allow moisture or dirt or grease to touch the primary surface. You don’t oil the paint on your car. Neither should you oil the finish on your furniture. The best and only thing you should do is what we, as professionals do… use a good paste wax and apply a light coat, buffing when dry and then dust gently between annual waxings.

       It’s that simple…but, an even simpler way is to contact Bill at Oakley Restoration at 860-350-6410 or email me at: Bill@OakleyRestoration.com and have our people come to your place and do it for you!

 “Let us bring back the beauty to all your cherished furniture.”

Visit our FaceBook page and become a fan at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/OakleyFurnitureRestoration to keep up with useful information and great offers!

Thanks for stopping by and please post a comment!

Bill

WHAT IS CANE AND WHERE IS IT FROM?

After harvesting, the rattan palm is cut into poles and dried.

A close up of the spiny stalk of a rattan palm where cane comes from.

Cane is the generic term for the hard outer bark of the Rattan palm (see picture at left), which is a spiny climbing palm of the genus Calamus.  There are over two hundred known species of rattan palms, ranging over a wide area of tropic and sub-tropic areas; Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines being the chief exporters. After harvesting, the palm is cut into poles and dried (see picture above right).

This outer bark or cane peel is cut into thin strips in different widths and sold in coils (see picture below left) for the hand caning process. The cane comes in varying widths that have confusing names like carriage, common, fine fine, etc. Cane, sometimes called machine cane is also pre-woven and sold in sheets or varying patterns and sizes as in the picture below on right.

Here is a sample sheet showing various patterns of machine cane available.

Here is a coil of strips of cane ready for weaving.

The most common weave is a seven-step pattern that creates octagon shapes across the seat.  Seats that have been hand woven have holes around the perimeter and if you look under the seat you can see how the cane is looped and tied on.

Here the traditional 8-sided design is being woven onto a chair seat.

If the seat has a groove around the edge instead of holes the seat is made of pre-woven “machine-made” cane webbing (see picture below on left). The rattan spline is pressed and glued into the groove to hold the cane in place. It’s a subtle difference but I think the hand woven seat is a better look.

A machine woven cane seat. Note the rattan spline in the groove going around the seat perimeter.

Here's a great looking pre-woven "star" pattern.

Note the holes drilled around the perimeter of this chair seat being hand caned. The cane is threaded through the holes for weaving the seat.

TRADITIONAL HAND CANING

Traditional hand caning is the time-honored art of weaving strands of cane into a durable and beautiful seat or back for a chair and other furniture items. The traditional seven-step weaving method produces the familiar eight-sided holes which give a cane seat its distinctive look (see picture of hand weaving). You will generally find older and antique furniture having hand-woven caning, though sometimes it has been converted to fit a pre-woven machine cane insert. Look at the picture of a machine woven cane seat above . Notice the “spline-filled” groove around the perimeter. This is the quickest way to tell if a chair seat is machine caned or hand caned.

There are many uses of cane in furniture design. I have seen it not only on chair seats and backs, but on whole loveseats, chaise lounges, tables and floor screens.

Try to see if you can notice the difference next time you look at furniture both old and new. You may even see that some of the new imported furniture uses a plastic material to look like cane!

When you find that you need the cane on your furniture replaced, please call Oakley Restoration at 860-350-6410 to inquire as we offer this service along with many other types of furniture repair and refinishing. “Let us bring back the beauty to all your cherished furniture.”

Become a fan on FaceBook at:https://www.facebook.com/#!/OakleyFurnitureRestoration

to keep up with useful information and great offers!

 Thanks for stopping by and please post a comment!

Bill

As a professional furniture restorer I have seen so many mistakes made by unknowing customers who have moved out of one home and into another. Believe me, I like to get work repairing and refinishing furniture for my business, but I do hate to see beautiful furniture mishandled and damaged, sometimes irreparably. Here are 5 ways to make sure your furniture arrives in your new home in the same condition it left your old home.

1)      Start with a written and photographic inventory of your possessions. It doesn’t have to be all of your things, but definitely do this with your better pieces. I suggest taking an inventory of items that are of significant value or difficult to replace – such as antiques, art collections, jewelry, wills, stock certificates, photos, home videos, etc. Shipping valuable items via Certified Mail or Federal Express and personally moving them are options to consider.

I highly recommend that you do a walk-through inspection with the moving company representative using this inventory and noting the condition and any existing damage. The professional term is a “condition report.” It’s like when you rent a car and they do a “walk around” inspection with you. Using a digital camera makes it easy to copy the pictures to your computer, a flash drive or a disk for safe keeping.

Fill Out a Home Inventory Worksheet

2)      This is also a good time to make the moving company aware of your more valuable items and perhaps have a replacement value cost documented. If you are a collector of antique or vintage items I would even recommend that you call a professional appraiser to do either a summary appraisal stating the replacement cost, or in the least an approximation of value. You may already have these figures if your insurance company has scheduled these items separately on your personal property policy. This may sound like a bit of work, but it really won’t take too long and will save you so much trouble and heartache if you do have a damage or loss claim.                                                                                         

3)      As for choosing a moving company to use, the best way is by a recommendation from someone you know and trust. Nothing is better than a good report on the professional care and service a mover gave to a friend. Otherwise ask for references that you can call for their testimonial. I have heard some horror stories about how unprofessional and ill-mannered movers showed up the day of the move and did not do as they promised causing much concern, anxiety and outright damage.

4)      If the moving company representative isn’t able to handle antiques and higher end items to your satisfaction you can use them for the bulk of your possessions and hire a mover who specializes in antiques and fine art. This is so important when dealing with your best items and the additional expense is warranted. I have seen too many beautiful items of antique furniture damaged by an inexperienced mover. Yes, it can usually be repaired or even refinished if needed, but it does compromise the originality of the item and will impact the value.

5)     One final suggestion which you may think excessive, but believe me it is not, is to ask for the movers (and maybe yourself also) to inspect the interior of the empty moving van once all of your items are unloaded and in your new home. I know of more than a few instances where a piece of furniture molding, hardware or worse a whole item was “lost” in the move. Many times the part went unnoticed and ends up in the trash back at the warehouse. I have even heard of a whole piece of furniture being lost, never to be found!

 I know that if you take these above steps when involved in a household move, you will be rewarded with seeing all your beloved possessions in the condition you expected them to be in when you settle into your new home. It may deny my business and other restorers work, but I’d rather see you with a happy ending to your move rather than another horror story.

Here’s part of an interesting blog article I read about Feng Shui, something many of us have heard of but know little about. This quick read might turn you on to some new alternative ways to redecorate your home for a better you all around. I hope you enjoy it!

A house cannot be considered a home when the people residing in it do not feel comfortable and do not enjoy peace and harmony with the other people or with their environment. Good luck also come along with the proper furniture arrangement in the house.

There is a system or a geomancy if you may like to call it, which dates back to ancient China 3,000 years ago that can be applied to furniture arrangement to make it in harmony with the environment.

Feng Shui (pronounced fung sh-way), according to its practitioners, also gives good health and good luck to people by balancing the energies that surrounds their dwelling. This practice which is a combination of science, intuition and spirituality is now being slowly adapted in the modern western culture.

The philosophy behind Feng Shui is that there is in nature an ever flowing energy called Chi’. This energy can be good or bad, or a mixture of both which affects our lives directly or indirectly. In order to utilize the good energy and deflect the bad in the house it is important to take into account the furniture arrangement. The Chinese believes that with the proper placement of furniture in every room in the house it would attract good luck.

Whether you call it pop culture or whacky here are some tips on how to exercise Feng Shui on your furniture arrangement:

Living Room

The first thing to avoid in a living room or for any room is untidiness. Too many things disorderly mixed up in a space distract energy flow, is not conducive for living and blocks good luck. It is essential to control the flow of chi (energy) because too fast or too slow can cause a sense of being alone or could make a resident of the house sick.

A circular arrangement of furniture in a living room is ideal, without any chair having its back to a door. If this is not possible hang a mirror in the wall facing the chair so that the person sitting can see who is entering the door.

Incorporating Feng Shui in living room furniture does not include putting a sofa directly in front of a door. By doing this you are aiming chi (energy) directly at you, making you uncomfortable.

Bed Room

To help you have the most pleasant rest and better relation with your partner, Feng Shui maintains  the energy of love and healing with the  proper placement of your bed.

Arrange your bed in such a way that it is not aligned with the door. This is called the commanding position and is the ideal Feng Shui spot for your bed. In Feng Shui, sharing the head of the bed with the toilet wall is not conducive to good luck.

Placing the head of the bed against the window is a no-no because your health may be affected by cool breeze coming from the outside.

Patio

When using the patio for outdoor dining a square table will encourage stability in relationships, whereas  a round one will foster great community. A rectangular table in the patio promotes lively discussion.

 Furniture arrangement in the patio should also consider the position of the chairs. Arrange the chairs in such a way that an arriving guest is not in the path of a chair who’s back is turned.

I hope you found this short post on Feng Shui interesting. You can find more on this subject all over the web on sites such as:  http://fengshui.about.com/od/glossaryofterms/u/fengshui101.htm

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!

OAKLEY RESTORATION

is declaring January as

NATIONAL HEIRLOOM MONTH

and to celebrate we are offering 20% off

any one antique or vintage furniture item 

that you recently inherited or

has been in your family for years.

We want to prove to you that it’s well worth it to restore

and maintain these quality furniture pieces

to enjoy for many years to come.

So call 860-350-6410 or

email Bill@OakleyRestoration.com 

today to SAVE!

   Wishing you a Healthy and Happy New Year!

Bill Oakley and the staff at Oakley Restoration & Finishing, llc

WE ARE REDUCING OUR REFINISHING PRICES BY 20%

SO YOU CAN SAVE MONEY WHILE WE “BRING BACK THE BEAUTY” TO YOUR FURNITURE!

Go From This...

To This!

Oakley Restoration is happy to announce a new upgrade to our furniture refinishing process. We have installed a more efficient mechanized furniture stripping system which cuts down on the time it takes to remove the old finish on your furniture and prepare it for a beautiful, new protective finish you’ll be thrilled with!     

 Since our new system is saving us time…we are passing that savings on to you!

Please contact us today and take advantage of our discounted prices. You should know that the well-made older furniture you own cannot be replaced with today’s new furniture of the same quality.

                                             LET US “BRING BACK THE BEAUTY” TO ALL YOUR FURNITURE.

Here is the transformation and resurrection of a mahogany coffee table we repaired and refinished for a customer. It’s just an example of a high quality solid wood (mahogany & poplar) piece of furniture that is “hands-down” 1000% better than most anything similar that you could buy new today.

60+ years of wear and tear...

Here’s how it looked when we got it…

…and once it was stripped of the old finish…

Not all that pretty, huh?

But when we delivered it, the customer was so very happy that they had the work done. You couldn’t buy a table as nice looking and of this quality for what they spent to refinish it. I’ll bet you have a piece of furniture in need of a resurrection too! Call us today and take advantage of our special 20% discount offer for any work booked in the next 3 weeks…as long as it’s done by March 1, 2012.

As beautiful and rich looking as the day it was bought!

Watch Out For Today’s New “Disposable” Furniture!

 I just read a very interesting furniture refinishing industry newsletter article about what much of the new, (call it disposable furniture) is made of. Would you believe vegetable fibers like wheat, rye and rice straw or hemp stalks, kenaf stalks or sugar cane residue!

Yes, you read it right…I’m not making it up. For most people, furniture is furniture…it’s either made of wood, steel, aluminum or plastics and most of it will last for generations. Well, the furniture manufacturing industry worried that mass producing durable furniture that lasts for years and years would soon saturate the market and decrease the need for their products. Their solution was to develop a line of disposable, “look like real wood” furniture that would have a 7 to 10 year life and would need to be replaced more often and keep them in business.

This disposable furniture is made from “engineered wood,” meaning that most of the parts are not real wood. That’s where the vegetable fibers and other materials come in. The “binders” or glues that are used are generally water soluble and will quickly deteriorate in short time, especially when exposed to damp conditions.  Urethane foam is also used to mold “carved” shapes of assorted furniture parts. This material cannot be repaired easily or refinished ever!

This bit of information just further supports what I always tell all my customers, “buy antique or vintage furniture made prior to 1970.”  That’s when quality furniture was manufactured in America from quality materials, by talented craftsmen. Sadly most of those factories disappeared when maunfacturers saw the “bottom line” or profit as the most important part of their business and they outsourced the work to Asia. Even if you have to have this older, well-made furniture repaired or refinished, when it’s re-done you’ll have furniture that is light years better than anything new you could buy for the same amount of money (or a lot more too!).

Stay tuned to my blog for the continuing story of how to spot quality furniture and own it for a lot less than the new “disposable” stuff they are selling to the unsuspecting masses. Oh, and please let me and my readers know of any stories you might have about your experiences with either older, quality furniture or the new “disposable” stuff.

Thanks for checking in!

Bill

Here’s a good article by furniture “detective” Fred Taylor that I read on another furniture related website he writes for. I feel it is relevant for any advice you may be seeking…make sure the person knows what they are talking about! I will answer your questions and give you free advice on the subject of furniture and antiques, so please don’t hesitate to contact me. I love to talk about furniture…how to identify what’s good, how to buy it, maintain it and even sell it if you desire. Call or write Bill Oakley at 860-350-6410 or Bill@OakleyRestoration.com.

Gluing a small piece of veneer into a loose mortise before gluing in the tenon will create a tight wood joint. This is a repair that passes the “smell test.” (Fred Taylor photo)

Need some advice about furniture? Want to know how to repair that chair or fix that ugly spot on the table top? Have a question about the properties of a specific finish or what stripper to use on a tough project? Finding advice about furniture issues is about as hard as catching a cold in January. Getting good advice is sometimes a little more difficult, but it can be done with some attention to detail and some hard work.

The first place to go is, obviously, the library if you are fortunate enough to live in a major metro area with good public services. But even then, how long will you have to devote to the search to find the specific answer to your specific question? Probably a lot longer than you are willing to wait.

So who do you ask? Most of us don’t know enough about a specific subject to ask the penetrating questions of an “expert” that would reveal the depth (or lack of it) of his or her knowledge. If we knew that much, we wouldn’t need their help. It’s sort of like going to the doctor. You don’t understand everything that’s said but you trust the practitioner. The same holds true for advice about furniture. You need a source you can trust, someone with a track record that can easily be verified or with a public image established over long years of good work. But you also need one more important thing. You need to apply the “smell test” to any advice you receive.

What the heck is the smell test? It’s that old sixth sense that kicks in when something isn’t quite right. It’s like buying milk just before the expiration date on the carton. The dating tells you it’s good and the store guarantees its products, but just in case you check it anyway—you give it the “smell test” just to be sure. The same cautionary approach is often wisely used when accepting advice about your furniture. The source may be reputable, the advice sounds perfectly reasonable and acceptable, the outcome appears to be desirable. But does it pass the smell test? Is it a common-sense answer? Do you feel comfortable with it?

I ran across just such a case recently in an advice column on furniture care and repair written by a columnist for a major metropolitan publication. The original question had to do with repairing the chronically loose joints on a set of 45-year-old wooden dining chairs. The chairs reportedly had to be disassembled and reglued every five years. What was the long-term solution? The “expert” suggested four possible solutions, three of which included the addition of metal of some sort to the wooden chair joints:

• The only non-metal solution involved the use of epoxy glue rather than wood glue. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t hold a loose joint any better than white school glue would hold it. It would just guarantee that the next time the chair needed repair (because there will be a next time) the structural components of the chair, the legs and stretchers will shatter instead of the joints opening up cleanly.

• The first suggested metal application was the use of turnbuckles and wires to secure the chair legs and frame. That would certainly look upscale in a formal dining room setting and eventually the chair would just fall apart.

• The next suggestion was to use a perforated metal strap known as Mr. Grip in the holes of the loose joints. The rough metal would hold the stretcher tight – until it just rips out again, this time tearing up the end of the stretcher. That was a variation of a construction technique called the “LOCK-JOINT” used in chairs in the late 1920s made by the Colonial Manufacturing Company of High Point, N.C. They used a metal fishhook-like device to secure joints. It worked great until the wood shrank, the joint got loose and the steel split rivet ripped open the joint. You don’t see many Colonial Manufacturing chairs around today.

• The final metal application was the use of small brass screws inserted into the joints. The screws were a bad enough idea to start with, but the brass-screw idea was even worse. Brass screws don’t have the strength to stand up to that sort of stress. They will snap before the wood does.

The point is that the “expert” giving all this advice had obviously never successfully repaired a wooden chair in his life. This was demonstrated by his total lack of understanding of wood joints. His approach to the repair problem just didn’t pass the smell test.

If a wood joint is chronically loose it’s because the wooden components of the joint don’t fit right. The fix is to make them fit. If the hole—the mortise—is worn bigger or the stretcher—the tenon—has been reduced by wear or abrasion, or both, the answer is to fill the void in the joint with some sort of wood that will have the same reaction to glue, stress, temperature and humidity that the original wood will have. No metal application will match that. After cleaning out old glue, wrap a thin piece of veneer around the tenon or insert it into the mortise to create a tight wood joint when the parts are assembled. Make the wood work with you—don’t work against it—by adding foreign material like metal.

The solution should pass the smell test.

One comment I hear from customers all the time is, “I wish I had called you before I bought this… I didn’t know what bad shape it was in and how much it would cost to fix.” So, next time you’re shopping for a piece of furniture call me first for a free consult and some suggestions on where to get better furniture at a better price. I want to make my customers “educated consumers” who get the most for their money!

The old hidden broken chair joint!