Furniture finish

Carrie Beyer <cbey<-a t->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.

My best guess would be that the surface coating is  a
nitro-cellulose "lacquer" as that was (is) the finish of choice of
furniture manufacturers since the early part of the 20thC. . The
easiest test would be to use ethanol, lightly, to remove the scuffs.
This comes with the usual disclaimer that no treatment is suggested
without a full examination on the object.

Craig Deller

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:60
                  Distributed: Friday, January 3, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-10-60-003
                                  ***