Before you start any repairs or touch-up, wipe on
mineral spirits to help you decide what your next
steps should be. The mineral spirits temporarily saturates
the finish to reveal how the piece of furniture
will look with nothing more than a coat of wipe-on
clear finish. Don’t worry; this won’t harm the finish. If
it looks good, all you have to do is clean the surface
and apply an oil-based wipe-on finish. If the surface
looks bad even when wetted with mineral spirits,
you’ll have to take other measures to restore the
finish.
A thorough cleaning is an important first step in any furniture
renewal project. Removing decades of dirt and grime often
restores much of the original luster.
Paint spatters are common on old furniture, and most of the time you
can remove them easily without damaging the finish. Here’s a trick we
learned from Kevin to turn an ordinary straightedge razor into a delicate
paint scraper. First, wrap a layer of masking tape around each end
of the blade, and then bend the blade slightly so it’s curved.