Use Baby Oil To Treat Wood Furniture

As I said in my blog here at ThriftyFun (Pam's Pennypinching with Style), I have finished a raw pine wooden book shelf using just multiple coats of - BABY OIL! You just apply the oil until the wood won't absorb anymore. Voila, an oil finish, using less than a 1/4 of a bottle of baby oil (which is also non-toxic). No fumes and you can just apply it with your bare hands and a cloth.

The end result is a matte rather than shiny finish. If you like, you can apply furniture polish over it to give it a bit more shine. Pine starts off very light, and does darken a bit with oiling. I also oiled an unfinished oak cabinet I was given a few years ago and the finish is still fine. You can also use this as furniture polish on your other wood furniture, and if there are nicks in the wood, the baby oil will darken them to look distressed instead of damaged (and then you can polish).

Remember all wooden furniture needs to be "fed" with some sort of oil to keep up its sheen. That is definitely true for an inexpensive wood like pine.

By pamphyila from L.A., CA

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