52 House & Garden 
RESTORING OLD FURNITURE 
The Method is Simple and the Results More Than Compensate 
for the Labor Involved 
M. LOUISE ARNOLD 
T HIS article has been written for those of 
us who have, tucked away in attics, nice 
old pieces of mahogany, walnut or cherry and 
fear they can never look like real furniture 
again. A chest of drawers need not be a Hep- 
pelwhite if its lines are good; a chair need not 
be a Chippendale to be beautiful. 
Perhaps sadder than these good old pieces 
which languish in dusty attics and second-hand 
stores are those which have been dragged out, 
put in the hands of an alleged finisher and, 
filled with paste and covered with 
varnish, resemble nothing so much 
as Pullman fittings. 
The directions for restoring old 
furniture are simple enough. 
“Scrape off all old varnish, or 
paint; get down to the wood. Wipe 
off with alcohol. Stain with tur¬ 
pentine and a little asphaltum var¬ 
nish. Shellac it thinly, rub down 
with steel wool; shellac again, and 
rub down again and wax.” 
Removing Old Finish 
This rule we applied to five old 
chairs discovered in a barn. First, 
we got down to the wood. In places 
where the varnish was very dry and 
brittle we scraped it off with a dull 
knife. Where it was in better con¬ 
dition and clung to the wood, we 
used a varnish remover. We brushed 
this on over a small surface, let it 
stand a few minutes and scraped off 
the varnish which had softened. 
Around such places as chair rungs 
we used a stiff brush and ammonia. 
This was easier to use in such places, 
but ammonia should be washed off 
quickly with warm water and soap 
as it stains the wood. Of course, 
it is inadvisable to use ammonia or 
water around a glued part. So we 
worked around the joinings with a 
varnish remover and even that we 
scraped off as quickly as possible. 
When the varnish was all re¬ 
moved, we wiped the entire piece 
with a soft cloth and wood alcohol. 
This removed any remaining par¬ 
ticles of varnish from the pores of 
the wood. Then we let it dry thor¬ 
oughly, and went over the entire 
piece with fine sandpaper. 
Following the theory that it is al¬ 
ways easier to make a stain darker 
than lighter, we used very little of 
the asphaltum varnish in the tur¬ 
pentine—about a tablespoonful to a quart of 
turpentine. This will be found to be sufficient 
for furniture that has been well preserved, 
but where furniture has been allowed to stand 
out in the weather and has whitened and dried 
it may be necessary to add more asphaltum 
or to brush over certain parts several times. 
We painted the chair with the turpentine 
and asphaltum, brushing on a little, then wip¬ 
ing it off. If it is not wiped, it runs down 
and makes “teary” places. In light spots we 
brushed it over several times. When the wood 
had taken up as much of the color as it would, 
we set it away to dry. 
The Shellac Coats 
The next day we thinned white shellac with 
alcohol and brushed over it quickly and light¬ 
ly. Shellac, if properly thinned, will dry 
quickly, but twenty-four hours should be al¬ 
lowed before it is touched again. Then with 
fine steel wool we rubbed it down, taking care 
to rub with the grain and gently. When we 
had covered the piece, we wiped off the dust 
with a dry cloth and shellacked it again. 
Now all this business of shellacking and 
rubbing off seems very foolish, but it is the 
only way to fill the pores of the wood properly 
and at the same time keep the piece from 
looking varnishy. There are a number of 
wood fillers on the market, but while they may 
be satisfactory for new soft woods, they are 
far from desirable for old hard woods. I have 
seen many a lovely piece with a gritty, un¬ 
pleasant surface caused by a patent filler. 
We rubbed off the second coat of shellac 
as we had the first. Then came the happiest 
part of all—the waxing. 
After brushing off all the dust from the 
shellac, we applied the wax. We used a pre¬ 
pared furniture wax and rubbed it on with 
our hands much as a bootblack does, and, 
with much “elbow grease” and a soft rag, 
polished! 
Then we stood back—honesty compels us 
to say that we spent a considerable amount of 
time in admiring our results—and it 
seemed to us that the chair itself 
seemed grateful for its restored 
beauty and dignity. 
With the first little chair a suc¬ 
cess, we now turned our attention to 
the other and “less fortunate” ones. 
The broken ones we sent to a good 
cabinet-maker. Such a trip is a good 
investment in the case of furniture 
needing repairs, for the cabinet¬ 
maker has the tools and materials 
necessary, also the skill. 
Our cabinet-maker worked won¬ 
ders with glue. One chair after an¬ 
other was finished. The old seats 
were recovered with a beautiful 
tapestry in rose and blue. But at 
this point we almost met with mis¬ 
fortune—we almost over-padded our 
chairs. Never allow an upholsterer 
to overpad cushions. The lines of 
any piece of upholstered furniture 
will be much better if the padding is 
only moderate. 
Further Work 
Other pieces followed: a little old 
bed with spindles at the head and 
foot, a desk picked up in a little 
second-hand store, and a table, oval, 
with drop leaves, was a most in¬ 
teresting problem. We bought the 
table for three dollars. The plan¬ 
ing mill man took off the warped 
top, reglued and planed it. The 
legs, which were straight and un¬ 
interesting, were turned on a lathe 
and made to have a beautiful taper, 
All this cost only a few dollars! 
Before waxing we gave the table a 
coat of waterproof varnish and steel 
wooled it, just as we did the shellac. 
When put into a lovely new little 
house, all of these things not only 
were pieces of furniture, but were 
pieces of great charm and distinc¬ 
tion, which is more than can be said 
of some of the modern furniture we might have 
bought. 
What we did anyone can do—there is no 
secret nor great expense connected with it. 
Search the attic, then, for pieces whose existence 
you yourself may have forgotten. Bring them 
into the light, dust them off, examine their 
joints and general condition. If the lines are 
good and the wood sound, it makes little differ¬ 
ence how dingy they are. Restoring them will 
be chiefly a matter of a little knowledge and 
much work, and the reward will amply repay. 
