Furniture finish

Carrie Beyer <cbey [at] loc__gov> writes

>I am wondering if anyone knows what kind of finish was used on
>Haywood-Wakefield furniture from the 1940s to 1950s.  I need to
>remove some black scuff marks that have not penetrated the surface,
>and am unsure what to use, pure soap and water or an oil based
>cleaner.

I do not know what kind of finish was used on Haywood-Wakefield
furniture. However, I do know that it is quite fragile.  I tried to
clean dirt and grime left by many years of exposure to tobacco smoke
from my private pieces using a very mild solution of Murphy's Oil
Soap in water.  Test cleanings indicated that the champagne finish
was easily dulled by this agent. I cleaned it using a damp rag
without damaging the finish, but could not remove the smoke deposits
with just water, so left them.  The reddish stain on the drawer
pulls of this furniture seems to be very fugitive, fades easily in
light, and is easily removed with a damp rag.

Richard L. Kerschner

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:59
                 Distributed: Monday, December 30, 1996
                       Message Id: cdl-10-59-003
                                  ***