Oak panelling

Susan Lunas <bookbinder<-a t->preserveyourtreasures< . >com> writes

>This question comes from a private party who knows about historic
>conservation/preservation, but has no access to our List.
>
>    How should one care for oak panelling that lines the interior
>    foyer of a 65 year old structure?  Should the panelling be oiled
>    periodically? Dry cleaned with something?  Left alone? Thank you
>    for your help.

Susan, in regards to the oak paneling one should *never* oil wood or
its coating, it does absolutely no good, it only makes a mess.  Sure
it may look nice right after, but the oil dulls and you have to pay
people like me to get rid of it.

Rather, clean the surface, remember, you are not cleaning wood but
any coating that is already on it.  A mild soap and water (5%-10%
solution) in distilled water should be sufficient.  You may us
Murphy's Oil soap (there nothing magical about it) but the real
secret is to *rinse* the soap off. Then when dry, wax it.  Now
waxing a large vertical surface seems daunting, but choice of
materials is important.  I have been using "Beatue" wax for 30 years
in the same situation and it works great.  It is available from
Roger Reed Wax in Reading MA.

If you want more details and a couple of tricks, write me back.

Craig Deller


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 28:29
                 Distributed: Monday, December 15, 2014
                       Message Id: cdl-28-29-005
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