The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

This was not mentioned before, but in addition to the possible damage to wood surfaces that aerosol furniture polishes--such as Pledge--may cause, there are also some health concerns:

10 Deadly Household Items --
http://listverse.com/2017/07/21/10-dead ... sed-today/ (#3 in list)

Furniture Polish Poisoning -- https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002788.htm

EWG's Guide to Healthy Cleaning -- http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/1395 ... LemonClean

OrthoFan

I like Howard's Feed N'Wax.It brings out the shine.edisonplayer

I used Kotton Klenser for removing grime followed up with Deluxing Compound. Bill K

I get what Greg means .I've scrubed I've cleaned and scrubed and cleaned I've bought Howard's I've bought goop I've used lemon oil I've used old English, I've used Polish and rubed till my arms feel off , but still don't get that shine . In my pictures my first pic is a Edison b150 I just bought at Wayne shines so much I pass her and smile. In second pic is my 43 that looks old and beat up like her owner. That's how the other 10 look .How do we bring back that shine (I clean so much wife and kids think I'm nuts ). So I ask reshallac or not?

Dedcrums this is exactly what I mean. My VV-VI looks phenomenal with a small amount of lemon oil (most likely stored inside) whereas my VV-105 and VV-IX look only a little better than when I picked them out of the garages they were stored in. It's pretty frustrating but hopefully if I can get a hold of some goop or GoJo that maybe I'll get some results.

Dedrums wrote:I get what Greg means .I've scrubed I've cleaned and scrubed and cleaned I've bought Howard's I've bought goop I've used lemon oil I've used old English, I've used Polish and rubed till my arms feel off , but still don't get that shine . ... So I ask reshallac or not?

Looking at the photo with the dull finish, applying a thin (½ cut) coat of clear shellac would probably be your best bet before doing the final polishing, since it looks like the original finish may have been rubbed through in a few places--I can't tell, for sure.

If you want a piano-like finish, you can always try "French polishing" -- you'll find numerous "how to" links when you Google the term -- but it's best to practice on some samples before you tackle a Victrola.

Before the final waxing, you could try buffing the finish with some rotten stone, or similar very fine abrasive. (There are online instructions as to how to do this.) I did this on one cabinet years ago and it really brought back the shine.

OrthoFan

OrthoFan wrote:

Dedrums wrote:...Before the final waxing, you could try buffing the finish with some rotten stone, or similar very fine abrasive. (There are online instructions as to how to do this.) I did this on one cabinet years ago and it really brought back the shine.

OrthoFan

I had good luck with a product called "black wax," which was a fine furniture wax laced with rotten stone. Weeks of work polishing away with 0000 steel wool and black wax brought my Edisonic Schubert to a very nice shine, removing heavy alligatoring without stripping the original finish. Black wax was mfd. by a company called Pacific Engineering, located in--er, Connecticut. Alas, the outfit seems to have gone out of business, or at least several semi-casual web searches in the past couple or three years have not found its site. While it was still there, the explanatory info indicated alligatoring is not dead finish; it's the accumulated layers of old furniture polish, cooking fumes, tobacco smoke, and whatnot that have piled up on top of the original finish over the course of decades. Stripping that off brings you back down to the original, largely intact finish. Made sense to me at the time, and the product did the job. Perhaps something like it is available elsewhere?

I'd love if anyone could provide more info on black wax, as this sounds really good. Thanks for all the info

HisMastersVoice wrote:Renaissance Wax is fantastic! I use it extensively. A small jar goes a long way, and at $20 per jar, you certainly don’t need to be wealthy to use it. For the most part this isn’t a cheap hobby to begin with, and I have no problem spending the extra money on top shelf products like New Life Furniture Masque & Renaissance Wax if it preserves and protects my investments even just a little bit better.

I agree with that statement, this is not a cheap hobby to begin with.