Cleaning Antique Wood Furniture

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http://www.refinishwizard.com/cleaning_antique_furniture.html

To do that you need to know what type of finish is already on the timber i.e. is it a wax finish or is it beetle varnish shellach like a french polish or just varnish. If old more likely to be shellach that will determine how you clean it. If its valuable I would suggest talking to someone in the trade. My gut feeling is just a wipe down would suffice the value of antiques is the patina which is the natural aging of the timber. If you clean the surface, highly likely that you may damage the patina and therefore decrease its antique value. It's your call and I don't know all the details. I would get more advice. brentnz