Any advice on furniture polish

[noelm]

Hello folks,

I have really old dining table and chairs, pretty good wood but doesn't look good anymore. I was wondering if anybody has some advice on polishing.

I asked Home Depot folks and he suggested me to sand it first and then use some paint. I would have loved to do it but there is no space in our apartment complex where I could do sanding, hence that option is out.
I wonder if there is any other option like spray paints for wood or similar. Although this stuff is good quality, it will be dumped or recycled in year or two so I don't care much.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[easysurfer]

Yes, sanding first would help a lot. But since that's not an option perhaps something like Liquid Gold?

Scotts 10014 Wood Cleaner And Preservative: Amazon.com: Home & Kitchen

I have tried it before, and the Liquid Gold did seem to do a pretty good job -- better than Lemon Pledge (and Pledge wasn't too bad either).

 

[noelm]

Thanks.

It looks to me it is more of a cleaner. Doesn't look like it will give me polish-like color, will it?

 

[rodi]

Noelm -
I'm a bit confused. You say you want a furniture polish... which pledge and liquid gold are. But you also mention sanding and painting - which is refinishing, not polishing.

What is your end goal?

Are you thinking of furniture wax? That can be done after the piece is thoroughly cleaned... it's a lot of elbow grease.

Or if it just needs a deep cleaning/shining... you can try making your own with vinegar and oil. It's less toxic (and cheaper) than the commercial products.
Alternative Furniture Polish | Care2 Healthy Living

 

[freebird5825]

I found a quick and dirty list of ways to make old wood look good again.

Refinishing Wood Furniture and Cabinets

Without some pictures of your furniture, it's tough to recommend any products. At a minimum, Murphy's Oil Soap will remove dirt and grime without any toxic fumes collecting indoors.

 

[FIREd]

I have had good results with this product line:

Restor-A-Finish Wood Restoration | Howard Products

It's easy to apply, though a bit stinky during application, it will hide a lot of blemishes, and restore a shinier finish.

 

[easysurfer]

Thanks.

It looks to me it is more of a cleaner. Doesn't look like it will give me polish-like color, will it?

From my experience, the wood will have a nice shine to it when done. The end result may make the wood look a bit darker. I forget if the darker result was permanent or temporary.

 

[rodi]

I'm still confused by "polish-like color".

Polish means shiny... shiny in whatever is the underlying color.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I use Weiman's Furniture Cream on my old pieces of furniture. I find it cleans and moisturizes the wood without stripping the patina and does not have a greasy feel. Nice smell, too.

 

[noelm]

I apologize for the use of wrong terminology. Currently, the state of the dining table is pretty much like this.

After looking at all the links FIREd's suggestion seems to the best bet and good that it does not involve sanding so I can do it indoors too.

Thanks everyone for their suggestion.

 

[freebird5825]

FIRE'd...you are the Man.

I ordered some of that Restor-A-Finish (cherry) and the Feed-N-Wax and got to w*rk on my dining room table.
The light conditions for the pics below were different, and the table is a bit darker now. I applied it heavier and left it on longer on purpose. I was very careful to follow the grain with each application and use of the steel wool.
I had to use steel wool repeatedly with some serious elbow grease for the more stubborn white spots. I had to leave the Restore-A-Finish stuff on for about a minute on the white spots to get them to be erasable. Some of the white remains, but it is only noticable to the human eye if you look very closely.

I did the entire table. It looks fabulous.
What a great j*b the combo of the two products did.

TY TY TY

 

[FIREd]

FIRE'd...you are the Man.

I ordered some of that Restor-A-Finish (cherry) and the Feed-N-Wax and got to w*rk on my dining room table.
The light conditions for the pics below were different, and the table is a bit darker now. I applied it heavier and left it on longer on purpose. I was very careful to follow the grain with each application and use of the steel wool.
I had to use steel wool repeatedly with some serious elbow grease for the more stubborn white spots. I had to leave the Restore-A-Finish stuff on for about a minute on the white spots to get them to be erasable. Some of the white remains, but it is only noticable to the human eye if you look very closely.

I did the entire table. It looks fabulous.
What a great j*b the combo of the two products did.

TY TY TY

You're welcome, Freebird!