Furniture polish

Andrea Hathaway wrote concerning furniture polish on library tables.
There are many, many different types of furniture polish on the
market, but I will make the assumption that the "lemon furniture
polish" she describes is a lemon oil, probably in a spray can.

There would be a very good chance that this type of polish would
indeed be able to stain the books and maps laid out on it. Lemon oil
tends to be baby (mineral) oil with a scent. The only acceptable
furniture "polish" would be paste wax. The wax polish should be a
blend of bees wax which has good water and alcohol resistance, and
carnauba which is harder and counterbalances the softness of the
bees wax. Of course most people balk at having to wax something as
it is tougher than spraying and wiping, but it only needs to be done
once a year. After that, all they need to do is dust.

Craig Deller
Wooden Artifacts Conservator
Deller Conservation Group, Ltd.
Geneva, Illinois USA

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:74
                   Distributed: Friday, March 6, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-11-74-007
                                  ***