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Cleaning Wood Furniture With A Sticky Film

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Date: 08/06/2007 Topics: Cleaning > Furniture | Readers Request > Cleaning  
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Help! I made up some homemade wood cabinet polish with olive oil and lemon juice and applied to my oak and teak furniture. it looked great but I've done something wrong coz now there is a sticky film on them that EVERYTHING adheres to and they look dirty and yukky. How do i get them nice and clean again? Some of the furniture is varnished, some not. The varnished furniture seems to be less sticky. Any suggestions would be appreciated. The furniture is new and I'm really upset that I've ruined them. Since I don't live in the U.S. Please could anyone suggest something that is easily procured anywhere. Some American brand names cannot be found in Europe or else I have no idea what the European substitute would be. Many thanks!

Cettina from Malta, Europe
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By (Guest Post)
Vinegar and baking soda with a green scrub pad did the job!!!

Posted on 09/24/2008 | Report Spam or Abuse

By cett (152) Profile Contact
hi sheila. i tried most of the suggestions and nothing much worked so in the end i just put some warm water and hand dishwashing detergent in the kitchen sink, swooshed it around till it got foamy and applied the solution to the furniture with my dishcloth. rinsed out the cloth and wiped the furniture again, and it doesnt seem so bad now. a few more times and i think ive sorted it! i use fairy washing up liquid but i suppose anything you use will do. hope that helps.

Posted on 06/26/2008 | Report Spam or Abuse

By Sheila (Guest Post)
Hi Cettina,
My furniture also has a greasy film from using furniture polish. Every finger print shows up on it. Would you share what worked best for you. Thanks.

Posted on 06/24/2008 | Report Spam or Abuse

By Pam Bradley (Guest Post)
I recently inherited a beautiful dining room set but unformtunatly it has a film and odor from heavy smoking in the house it was in. The finish is in excellent shape, no need to re-finish at all. Any suggestions as to what I might use to remove this film and odor?
Thanks..
Pam from Canton, Ohio

Posted on 03/27/2008 | Report Spam or Abuse

By cett (152) Profile Contact
thank u to nancy (guest post). sapone di marsiglia is common everyday laundry soap. u can get anywhere here in malta. if thats what murphys oil soap is, then i got no problem in sorting out my sticky furniture. went to the biggest supermarket on the island (its so small here that nowhere is far away) and they dont stock perborato(borax) either so i give up on it.

Posted on 08/13/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

By nancy (Guest Post)
In Italy the closest equivalent to Murphys Soap would be "sapone di marsiglia" and borax is probably "perborato".

Posted on 08/12/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

By cett (152) Profile Contact
thank you louise, from canada. yr suggestion is practical and sensible. also its with a product i know is available and can get hold of. re the message from gurth. can u tell me wat PINE GEL is? brand names are confusing, coz i dont live in the U.S. is it a detergent? if u explain wat it is, i can get an equivalent. if one option doesnt work, at least theres another i can fall back on, as long as i know wat it is that im looking for.thanks for your help. im very grateful. the furniture is just getting stickier and dirtier so i have to do something FAST!

Posted on 08/11/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

By gurth (136) Profile Contact
After a recent move, I washed all my furniture with a strong solution of Pine-Gel and warm water. Dry well and polish with the correct polish for the wood. I was amazed to see all the dirt and oil vanish without damage to the furniture.

Posted on 08/09/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

By louel53 (Guest Post)
Hi Cettina-- I suspect that your furniture is now covered with a film of oil and dirt. You want to remove this without damaging the wood underneath. I have several pieces of wood furniture, oak, mainly, and I do not use anything on them. I dust with a dry cloth or feather duster, and if they get anything sticky, I wipe with a damp cloth, and dry afterwards. I don't think that you need any sort of polish or anything on most wood furniture. I have read that a coat of paste wax once a year, paste wax made for wood, is good, but I have never bothered. Anyway, back to your problem. I think that you should just wash the furniture with your usual household cleaner. I would use Mr. Clean, about a capful in 2 litres of warm water. Since you are wanting to dissolve a layer of dirt and oil, I think you need a detergent type cleaner. Or, I would use a capful --like 20ml -- in 2 litres of water, of ammonia. Ammonia cleans up oil by combining with it to make soap. I don't really think that vinegar would be very effective. Acids, which vinegar is, don't combine or dissolve with oil. Think of oil and vinegar dressing. Of course, they do have some effect, but I think you would be better off with the household cleaner. Just don't soak the wood with the cleaner. Murphy's Oil Soap is an oily product that we have here in Canada. I don't know what is used for really; I have used it to coat the inside of things when I was making plaster molds for crafts. I don't think that I would use it on my furniture. I think you would get an oily residue with it, which is what you already have. As for the other suggestions; lemon juice and vinegar are both acids, so have a similar effect on things; one just smells better. Baking soda is a slight abrasive and sometimes scratches delicate things; it is also a base, as is ammonia, so you can use a solution of ammonia to do a similar job withour abrasion or fear of scratching. Mixing baking soda with vinegar will neutralize them, as one is as acid and one is a base. I suspect that a paste of vinegar and baking soda as suggested on other posts slightly neutralizes the baking soda, but that there is not enough to thoroughly do it, so you would get virtually the same effect by mixing water with the baking soda to make a paste. Good luck with your cleaning.

Louise, Nipawin, Saskatchewan, Canada

Posted on 08/09/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

By cett (152) Profile Contact
sorry, forgot to ask. wats the website for heloise that u mentioned from linda, guest post?

Posted on 08/09/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

By cett (152) Profile Contact
thanks for all your suggestions. white vinegar sounds like a good idea. please, cud u tell me what MURPHYS SOAP is? unfortunately, since i live in europe, i have no idea what it is coz ive never seen it here.

Posted on 08/09/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

By Pattie (Guest Post)
I use a paste of white vinegar and baking soda to remove sticky film. It'll take any dirt in the wood out as well. Always test a spot that you can't notice with the paste first to be safe.

Posted on 08/08/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

By Sandy in los angeles (Guest Post)
Use white vinegar straight from the bottle. It will take several applications but eventually you'll get down to the wood or varnish. Leave the lemon juice out of the cleaner next time.

Posted on 08/08/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

By Jantoo (734) Contact
I just read here recently not to use lemon oil on furniture. Murphy's oil soap sounds like a good idea to undo the goo.

Posted on 08/08/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

By Linda (Guest Post)
Look for Hints from Heloise online. She has a solution for everything!

Posted on 08/08/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

By ficklephonebug (17) Contact
murphy'soil soap comes to mind. you might consider
calling a cabnit maker for a professional suggestion.

Posted on 08/06/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse

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