Driscolls Antiques – Antique Furniture Blog

Can you polish antique furniture using linseed oil?

The answer is yes but only if you do it correctly as it can leave a build up of a sticky finish if not done correctly. The correct method is to rub boiled linseed oil into the wood using a clean lint free cloth. Rub in oil very vigorously until the wood looks replenished and won’t soak up any more linseed oil.

With your cloth rub off the excess oil and leave the piece of antique furniture to dry over night. Do this same procedure every day for a week but remember to leave the drying times over night. One you have finished after a week make sure you buff up using lots of pressure with a clean cloth and the better you buff up the better the finish will be. To keep the finish looking good, use the above method every few months but only one or two applications will be necessary. We have lots more antique restoration tips available on our antiques blog so please check through as there maybe some very helpful hints and tips you can use on your antique furniture.

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The price difference from a period or Victorian commode

I have just been looking through a well known antique furniture auction catalogue and noticed a George III mahogany commode with a rectangular moulded top above three long drawers and stand with a shaped apron with carved foliate decoration on cabochon and leaf carved cabriole legs and scroll feet. This is going to be auctioned with an estimate of 10 to 15,000 + buyers premium of approximately 30 percent. This is a lot of money for an antique chest of drawers so if you do not want to spend such a large amount we might have a very good alternative solution.

We have a similar piece of antique furniture but this is a later copy of the original piece. The thing about this piece is it is still an antique as it was made in the Victorian period. It has a rectangular top with moulded edge above three graduating drawers and original brass handles. The corners of the Victorian chest are canted with beautiful carving decoration and it stands on scrolled cabriole legs with carvings.

Both are similar in design but our chest is for sale for less than £1500 so financially you will be far better off. Have a look at our antiques website for details.

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Steam Dents out of Antique Furniture

If you accidentally get a dent in your piece of antique furniture (usually by dropping something on the surface ) then there is a method to remove this but it can only be used if the surface is to have the old finish stripped off and can only be used on solid wood rather than veneered wood. The first thing to do is to strip the old polish off from the surface, then dampen a large piece of cloth and fold it to roughly the size of an iron. Turn on an iron at a low setting and put the cloth over the dent. Put the iron on the damp cloth and hold for a short while and then check the dent. The wood will start to swell and so the dent will start to disappear. You may have to do this process a few times to get a result but be careful not to burn the wood by leaving the iron on too long and keep the cloth damp. The problem with this method is you then need to rub down the surface with sanding paper and then re polish the surface. With this kind of repair we usually recommend to seek the advice of an antiques restorer first as you may well do more damage than good if it is a really good piece of antique furniture and we also have wax sticks to fill small dents so this may also be an easier option?

This is the most common problem you see on antique tables as dropping plates, cutlery and cups often cause this damage.

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Would you risk your life to value antiques?

I have just recently heard a story about how tricky it can sometimes be to value antiques and on occasion you literally have to put your life on the line to do it. A certain antiques auctioneer had been called around to a house to clear all the contents of a deceased estate from the antique furniture, collectables and entire contents. As they were clearing out the property they noticed a selection of world war memorabilia and in amongst this was a second world war bomb, a grenade and a German gas canister. This led to the bomb squad being called out to remove and diffuse the items. It is amazing what you can still find in houses that have been kept from the war, I suppose these items were brought home, put in a drawer and forgot.

So if you are next thinking of clearing out antiques from a house be careful not to accidentally pull the ring out of a grenade and sort carefully! or you might get a nasty surprise.

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Removing Water Ring Marks from Antique Furniture

It can be very annoying when you get a water mark from a vase or drink on the surface of your antique furniture and to try to remove it is to firstly try our polish reviver that we sell on our website as this also removes most rings from water. It will also revive the polish so you get the added bonus of a clean polished piece of antique furniture. Always finish off by using a good quality antique furniture bees wax like the Fiddes wax on our website for sale.

The alternative is to heat a small amount of olive oil and stir about quarter the amount of paraffin wax into the warm oil so they blend together. Rub the mixed liquid with a clean cloth into the ring mark and leave for a few hours. Buff off the excess and if it has not worked repeat several times until the desired effect. Always wax over the area when finished

The last thing to try is to mix potato flour with white vinegar until you gat a thick paste. Put this paste over the ring mark and leave overnight. Remove the dry paste the next day and wax the surface.

There are a few tips but the easiest is obviously using our antiques polish reviver or you can always seek the advice of a furniture restorer as there are other ways to burn the ring mark out using meths but this is quite dangerous so I will not add this method to the tips to be on the safe side.

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Dodgy Antique Auctioneers practices

You can see on a few earlier blogs I have wrote showing the negatives of buying from auction but recently I read an article which I thought I would share with you as it shows how some antique auctions are not all what they seem.

A certain person wrote to a well known antiques magazine and told us about his experience at a recent auction. He wanted to bid on some Victorian furniture pieces in a very well established auction house that does not offer estimates so he decided to do a telephone bid. The call started with the auction house asking him do you want to pay the opening bid of £500, he replied yes. this went on in bid increments up to £650. The auctioneer said do you want to bid further as the reserve is £700, do you want it at that. The bidder then realised that he was bidding against the reserve and no against a person in the saleroom he said no thank you as he felt quite cheated and he thought he would go after the auction to try to negotiate a better price. The hammer went down and the auctioneer said he has accepted the lower bid of £650 as they have used their 10% discretion. Although this may sound not too bad as he won the item at £650 this is actually classed as shill bidding, whereby the owner (or auctioneer) bids on his own lot up to the maximum the bidder is prepared to pay and then cancelled their top bid so the under bidder  wins the lot at their maximum bid (This is seen very often on ebay). This is surely highly illegal and just another dodgy practice that you very often see in auction houses. Rather than being ripped off by an antique furniture auction, buy from a reputable antiques dealer like Driscolls Antiques ltd, as we only deal in quality antiques, beautifully restored and reasonably priced.

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Whatever type of table you need for Christmas we have!

I cannot believe I am saying this but Christmas is approaching fast and it seems to have come around so quickly. At this time of year the mass of enquiries about charismas antique dining tables usually starts but this year we are prepared as we seem to have a good selection of antique tables in stock for every home.

From large formal dining tables like our huge antique Victorian mahogany dining table at 11 and a half feet long and would easily seat fourteen people. The antique table is constructed from mahogany with 4 cabriole legs.

Or what about our large Regency antique mahogany dining table with rounded corners above 4 turned legs.

If you need a more usable kitchen table then what about our Edwardian mahogany kitchen table with a solid mahogany top, drawers and 4 turned legs.

Or more of a rustic look for your kitchen would be our antique Victorian pine scrub top kitchen table with a solid pine scrub top and 4 tapering legs.

All are nice pieces of antique furniture and ideal for Christmas dinner but we always recommend to buy early as the closer to charismas we get the faster we sell out tables!

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Burn marks on antique furniture

Burn marks by a cigarette or larger areas by open fires on antique furniture can be very difficult to repair and in most cases it is best to seek the advice of a professional antique furniture restorer to repair it. If it is a piece of antique furniture that you do not mind having a go yourself lesser pieces, try the remedy for discoloration below, but note that unless the mark is fairly superficial and the underlying wood is not charred, you may have little success. If it is a burn by a cigarette or a large burn on the side cut the area out carefully using a chisel and try to get similar grained wood or veneer to fit into its place. Re polish to match the rest of the piece. Smaller burns can be cut out and hard coloured wax used to fill the areas.

Smaller burns from a hot pan try to heat some olive oil and add a small amount of paraffin wax into the warm oil so they blend together. Rub the mixture with a clean cloth into the burned area and then leave it for a few hours. Once it has been left and had time to soak in buff off any excess liquid and you may need to repeat this process several times to get a result. Once you are happy polish the area with a good quality antique furniture wax. If this process does not work try to gently rub polish reviver into the burn mark using a soft clean cloth. When the mark is starting to look more natural again wax using a good furniture wax.

These methods are not guaranteed to work so try small areas first but the best advice with such damage is to seek advice from a good furniture restorer who specialises in antiques.

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Are antique coffee tables really antiques ?

Did the people in Georgian times and Victorian times really have coffee with coffee tables, well no this is a modern piece of furniture but many old antique tables do get converted to lower sizes and they make the ideal antique coffee table. The antique tables are cut down occasional tables, antique pedestal tables or sometimes large circular breakfast tables and they do look very effective. If you see any antique table on our website that you would like converting into a coffee table size, please email us and ask the question as many can be converted and we can offer this service if needed. With an antique coffee table it will have a beautiful patina and will be constructed from woods unlike the modern coffee tables and it will be over 100 years old so will fit with all antique and modern interiors.

A good alternative is also a vintage coffee table as they can sometimes still have a nice quality about them but will fit into a modern apartment.

For a modern interior we have a stunning vintage coffee table in stock at the moment and it is a burr ash Art Deco design coffee table with 4 simple squared legs.

For a more traditional interior look at our antique Victorian coffee table with 4 beautifully turned legs and constructed from walnut.

Both are beautiful pieces of antique furniture.

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What is the best way of applying furniture wax polish

If your piece of antique furniture needs a good wax polish but you are not sure the best wax to use or the best way of applying furniture wax polish then read on. There are lots of antique furniture wax available but we always recommend a good quality natural bees wax and we do stock the best type we have come across over many years of trying different waxes. The best one we have found is Fiddes wax and this is available on our website under the wax section on the left had side navigation buttons. We stock all colours from clear to mahogany or oak colours and a coloured wax will cover minor marks and can darken the polish slightly so it will add more colour to the piece of antique furniture.

When you are going to put the wax on use a clean cloth or rag (old bed sheets are good for this purpose) and apply the wax only in the direction of the grain otherwise it can look smudgy. Do not put too much on instead try to build up smaller amounts and put it on evenly over the area you are waxing. You need to put some pressure when applying the wax hand and keep rubbing it in until it looks like a lightly matt finish but with no smudges. Let the wax dry for half an hour or overnight if you can wait that long and then with a new clean cloth buff the wax off until you can see a nice shine in the wood.
The more times you do this the better the piece of furniture will look.

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