FRENCH POLISHERS TRICK - How To Restore The Finish on an Antique Chair in 3 Steps
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- Опубліковано 17 чер 2024
- English antique furniture restorer Simon Gilboy demonstrates how to use an oil staining technique to easily restore an antique late Victorian smoker's bow chair in three simple steps.
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Journey through Staverton, Devon
01:55 Dad's shed and digging out the chair
03:55 Staverton Bridge (Built 1413) historicengland.org.uk/listin...
04:20 Back in the workshop and history of the chair
07:41 Comparison of late Victorian and early Victorian Smoker's bow chairs
09:12 STAGE 1: Cleaning
You Will Need:
- 2 x Terrycloth (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrycloth)
- Washing up bowl
- Washing up liquid
- Kettle of warm water
10:19 How to wash antique furniture
11:45 POINT OF INTEREST: Cross-stretcher wear
12:40 POINT OF INTEREST: Teeth marks!
13:18 Leave to dry for an hour or two - have a cup of tea
14:04 STAGE 2: Using oil stain to revive an old tired finish
You Will Need:
- Latex gloves
- Traditional naphtha oil stain (Dark Oak & Brown Mahogany blend - although not important)
- 30cm 0000 ultra-soft steel wire wool
- Cotton cloth
- Face mask (if indoors)
14:22 About naphtha oil stains and why we use them
17:06 What is in the oil stain
17:33 Charging the steel wire wool with the stain
17:52 How to apply the oil stain
18:49 Why you shouldn't use spirit stains or cellulose spirit-based stains
20:34 Applying the oil stain to the seat
21:18 Point of Interest: Two marks in the seat - poss. shellac-based over-polish mark
22:02 Staining complete - leave outside to dry for a few hours
22:43 STAGE 3: Wax Polishing
You Will Need:
- Gilboys 'antique gold' Beeswax Polishing Kit (bit.ly/3sT77wi)
contains:
- Gilboys dark beeswax furniture polish
- Ultra-fine 0000 grade steel wire wool
- Open-weave pure cotton buffing cloth
- Pure beeswax scratch repair block (colour matched with the wax)
- Sweet pea seeds to plant and grow as a Thank You to the bees (excl. USA - FDA regs)
25:19 Charging the wire wool with the polish
25:30 Applying the wax
26:02 Why our wax is so good
26:42 Why we use wire wool to apply the wax
27:35 FURNITURE RESTORER'S TIP: Using a trimmed paint brush for carved relief areas
28:33 Leave to dray for about 20-30 minutes. Time for cup of tea.
28:49 Buffing
29:05 Why we use an open-weave pure cotton buffing cloth to prevent smearing
30:34 First look at the results from buffing
30:52 Buffing the rest of the chair (timelapse)
32:34 FURNITURE RESTORER'S TIP: Using a soft shoe brush to buff carved relief areas
34:28 The finished article
35:36 How often do you need to wax polish a chair?
36:01 Maintaining the polished surface
37:38 A close look at the end results
*Blue Peter is a BBC TV children's show enshrined in British culture and the longest-running children's TV show in the world. It is famous for its "makes", which are demonstrations of how to construct a useful object or prepare food. These have given rise to the oft-used phrase "Here's one I made earlier", as presenters bring out a perfect and completed version of the object they are making. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Peter
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Thank you! That is the exact chair my mother left me!
Beautiful chair! I love the variation of colors from ware and use. Just gorgeous!!!
Thank you. It's still looking. good. 🙂
Excellent advice. Thank you. I just bought myself a Georgian chest of drawers that needs some cleaning and polishing. This is what I’ll do.
What a terrific transformation! I have a similar chair. Unfortunately mine was chewed by my late terrier and, even worse, varnished by me!! I feel inspired to strip it and clean and wax it.
Great presentation sir! Loved hearing the train go by. Your enthusiasm and clear explanation makes me want to undertake a project myself. I do have a small jar of your polish and am eager to get started. Thank you so much!
Thank you.
Lovely range and depth of colour. Lucky parents have a transformed chair! Thanks for all the tips.
Thank you. I hope it helps. 🙂
Hi Simon and many thanks for another inspiring video. The chair is absolutely gorgeous!
Thanks Jamie. It's a nice way to preserve and enhance the existing (sometimes hidden) finish. 🙂
Excellent video, especially as was wondering what to do with a similar chair of the same period and now I know exactly what to do. Thanks
Hi Chris.
I hope it works well for you. 🙂
Cheers Simon.
The adventure through the countryside to pick up your father’s chair was delightful. I’ve learned so much from your videos; they are a wealth of information. The Antique Gold polish has revived my furniture fantastically! It’s the best polish ever! Please keep sharing your projects and road adventures! With gratitude from Oregon, USA.
Hi Murray
Thank you. I thought it was about time we went outside the workshop. We are extremely lucky to be located in a beautiful part of the world. The heritage steam railway line runs parallel 10 metres from our workshop, with the River Dart about the same distance again. The bridge I drive across in the video (twice a day) is only a hop away. If everyone likes seeing a bit of what surrounds us I'll continue to add a little extra in our future videos. 🙂 Thank you for your comments. As I write this reply Ian is next door in the workshop pouring liquid Antique Gold.
Brilliant job really enjoyed that, can't wait for other video's Thank's for the share and Stay Safe !!!.
Hi Brian. I hope you are well. Glad you enjoyed it.
Simon
I just want to say your videos are brilliant! Everything explained to the finest detail 👌🏼 look forward to giving your waxes a go
Glad you like them!
Just love these videos. I am a small business start up and these videos are such a help. I really appreciate you sharing. Thank you😊
You are very welcome. I'm glad I could help.
Thank you for the video. Just inherited one small Thonet #18 bentwood chair from my Grandmother. Chair is about 80 years old, but quite sturdy and everyone online is disassembling these chairs to work on them. I feel confident this process - no disassembly required - will give me the "freshen up" I'm looking for. Thank you again!
I have been so nervous to do anything to my antique furniture--fearful that I would ruin it! Thank you for your video--I used the stain oil on some dining room chairs a few days ago, and they already look beautiful. I hesitated to continue to the 3rd stage and add the wax...After seeing your video, I can't wait to go on to the final step! Your instruction was so helpful that I now have to courage to dive in with the wax and start buffing. Thank you for the instant courage!
Wow, looks gorgeous!
It did work well. Thank you.
What a lovely result and once again I learnt something new, previously I hadn’t been aware of Naphtha oil stain, but I will have to get some of this to add to my restoration supplies for future projects. Thanks
Hi David.
I think you will like it. It's a joy to use. ✅
@@GilboysRestoration I only wish I had known about this sooner, Simon. I just recently finished restoring a early 20th surgeon’s chair, alas on this instance the old shellac finish was dry and rubbing off with my fingers. Hence, a light sand back and then refinished with shellac and thereafter a wax polish with your antique gold polish. It would have been nice to have tried the Naphtha stain oil though as I think it would have suited this job. Next time for sure.
You are Amazing! Love the whole premise of the video!!
Beautiful, love these video's, thank you.
Thank you.
Superbe cette chaise, polie avec de bons produits, cela donne un brillant résultat. Congratulations Mr Simon
Really enjoyed this video and love the chair
Thanks Robert.
I suppose it was inevitable that your camper van would be a Devon, and that's a lovely example you have. Once again you've made an inspirational video, especially retaining all those decades of patina. Don't be shy about your wax, it's definitely the best, the easiest to use, and the smell is wonderful.
Thanks Stephen.
It’s a Devon Moonraker. I’ve had the van for 11 years now. Restored the oak interior and take it camping with my family. I’ve kept it as original as possible ✅. Thank you for your comments.
Best wishes
Simon
I have used these products and had great results. I typically give every piece a quick polish before returning it. Customers are always delighted to see the change in their furniture. Thanks for the video.
Thanks Matthew.
That's very kind of you. ☺
I just got back some chairs from a local shop who made some 'well loved' pieces a bit more stable again. My excitement quickly turned to disappointment, because the chairs were returned to me in a dusty, coated state. I put my antiques in their care, but felt they were not 'treasured' the way that I care for them...After doing this simple process myself, it made me wonder why the shop had not taken a few extra minutes to bring my pieces to life. I will not be returning to that shop--know that your 'quick polish' means so much to customers like me!
The chair is gorgeous now and I love the gentle approach. I just discovered your channel and am enjoying the treasure chest of wisdom that it is. I just acquired my great-greatgrandmothers treadle sewing machine from 1894 and it has a little bit of every kind of trouble. It's good to see you apply different processes case by case: that gives me a bit of inspiration to deal with things as I see myself doing in accordance with my own capibilities, being in the space that I am. You've helped me out with a few decisions I feel clear about now for restoring the woodwork (I need to do research before tackling the cast iron though). Currently treating the woodworm . Unsure still about what I'm going to do about the chipped veneer, and puzzled by the many white paint spots on the surface (while it was in my parent's shed this poor sewing table held their paint jars and white spirit when they were doing paint jobs). I've sanded through the old varnish and yet the 'new' paint splatter seems shows up under the finish in the wood. It's impossible to just 'scratch' off, but I won't use any chemical stripper in my small unventilated workspace.
Enjoyed that Simon, very informative and interesting, the chair came up beautifully.
I’ve been after an adult Smokers Bow Chair for some years, there’s a quite few scattered around the island of Cyprus where I live and work but they sell very quickly and freight charges from the UK are high for a chair in its assembled form. My late wife and I were very much into furniture restoration as a means of cheaply furnishing a home when we were younger with good quality stuff that wasn’t going to go out of fashion and her sewing skills as a nurse came in useful for the re upholstery work while my dad a cabinet maker taught me as much as he could for the carpentry work.
Many Thanks
Paul
It's really nice to read about peoples experiences in the past. Up-cycling nowadays is very much talked about and on trend. I wonder how many young people actually do it? I suppose the real problem, at this current time, is actually being able to afford a house 😳. If you can get enough money to buy one, the actual cost of furnishing it in real terms is minimal. 🙃
I in was in Cyprus a few years ago. (Limassol) A customer flew me out there to demonstrate how our polishes would look on his interior wooden wall cladding. Lovely place. ✅
@@GilboysRestoration What was born out of necessity became a life long interest in furniture restoration and antiques in general, nothing amazing or very expensive but of interest to us. My wife’s short but excellent lessons in upholstery at the local Tech college in Windsor had us scouring dumps and rubbish tips for horse hair mattresses, pretty disgusting but with horse hair in short supply and expensive when available it was worth it after the hair had been removed and washed.
Limassol’s a very upmarket city these days with some incredibly wealthy residents, I’m not in that league living instead in small rural village at the foot of the Troodos mountain range where I’m the token Brit for around 25 Kms slowly returning a much modified 1860’s village house to what government and local advisers say is it’s original build, fascinating and yet another obsession.
I have been on a trip in that steam train. They served us a cream tea. That means we must have passed by your workshop.
It really is a very pretty part of the world. You are lucky to be living there.
Thanks Liz. yes the Railway Line and River Dart is right beside us. Its beautiful.
....super so ein tolles ergebnis hätte ich nicht für möglich gehalten!!!! ---Übrigens dein VW Camper ist auch wunderschön....👍👍👍
Thanks so much for this video. I subscribed and will be purchasing from your website soon!!!
Thank you Alex. 🙂
Very informative video. Nice shop to ✌🏻
Thank you
That chair has come up beautifull,glad i found you and i suscribed too
Thank you. 🙂
Looks great. Just ordered some Gilboys Antique Gold!
Thanks Michael. How did it work for you?
@@GilboysRestoration Yes, it worked well. I just wish I could post a photo, but I don't think that's possible or allowed here.
Brilliant video. This is the exact way I have been restoring old finishes. Clean, oil stain, wax. I have been using this method for 33 years, I have just purchased a jar of your wax. I am waxing my Georgian tea table tomorrow. I have used many brands of wax over the years. And have not been impressed with a lot of them recently. I used to use Morrells oil stain many years ago. But they changed the formula. I still have some old stuff in bottles. I now use Fiddies oil stain or Smith and Rogers. Which I am really pleased with. Keep up the good work 👍
Bff f
Thanks Mark.🙂
This is a very good video Thank you for removing the music. Great looking chair!
Glad you liked it. Thanks Patsy
The chair is really beautiful, but I must say that car of yours - wow! Regards from Sweden!
Thank you very much. It get lots of pampering 😁
Piękna robota!
Zdrowia życzę.
Dziękuję Ci. Twoje zdrowie też!
Great video, thoroughly enjoyed watching you work. I wasn't aware of you owning an old VW camper van, bit of a departure from a 1978 Blue Triumph Spitfire!..Kev P...
Thanks Kevin. Yes I’ve had the van for 11 years now. I keep it tucked away all winter. It’s A Devon Moonraker. All original. I restored the interior as well as having the entire van restored. Great fun. ✅
I want to try this for my late 17th century oak chair
Hi great video thank you. I have a chair in similar condition but it has a few patches of old paint on it what would you suggest in how to remove the paint 😁
Thanks
Thank you Jane. That’s very kind of you.
I hope my videos are helpful to you.
Best wishes
Simon.
Thanks for the tips in this video, the chair looks great. I have the bottom front panel from an upright piano which I am repurposing as the counter top of a toilet vanity unit. It has a French polish finish which has seen better days. Would this technique you have outlined help to revive the finish ?
Thanks
Great videos on the polish. Have you ever heard of using paste wax and pumice mix under the French polish to fill open grain surfaces?
Thank you so much. Could you use a shallac spray before waxing?
You've got such a good neighborhood there! Although in your country happen quite a few strange things concerning Europe, I am an extreme fan of the British culture in a way - don't really know why, but this is the case! I as well really enjoy your British accent of English. I far out prefer this to the American accents.
Thank you David. 😁
Beautiful transformation. I have shoe brushes in my toolkit and use them quite a lot to help with the buffing. I have to wonder. Both chairs had a bit of a 'Wobble'. Why did you not take a file to the foot and Even them out to stop the wobble?
Hi Peter.
Thank you. Yes shoe brushes do come in handy. The chairs are both level. It’s the table that’s uneven. 😁✅
Great video, thank you! I’m just about to give a new lease of life to two chairs that belonged to my great grandparents that are well overdue a bit of love and care and this was very helpful.
Just thought I’d mention though.. I’ve been to your website to look at products shown here but your website is a bit glitchy. Currency option stuck down and drop down menus overlapping. Not a complaint, just thought you’d like to know!
Thanks again :)
Thanks Gracie.
I hope your chair revival works well for you. Also thank you for the heads up about our website. We have fixed the glitch now. It was an update error. 🤨
Best wishes
Simon
Wow, that looks amazing. I’ve tried this on my antique rosewood hat/coat stand which I’m converting into a lamp. It’s got a few scratches but not enough to need staining. After a clean with washing up soap and various brushes to get in the tight areas, followed by a polish with wheelers furniture beeswax polish. Looks pretty good now. It’s not the most shiny stuff though compared to yours. The only bits that look better marginally better were the one already glossy before. How come your wax is so glossy? How long does it last?
This technique works best when the original finish is still in tact, but has suffered years of neglect. It's lying beneath waiting to be refreshed.
Our polish works its magic in this circumstance by latching on to the old finish and enhancing it. It's what the cosmetic companies would have us believe happens when you apply a rich nourishing skin cream to your face. But in our case it works.
It will last for years and years.
Please take a look at this guide gilboys.co.uk/pages/how-often-should-i-use-gilboys-beeswax-polish?_pos=1&_sid=d97b247e1&_ss=r
The reason yours may have not worked so well is because the finish has broken or worn away so the wax is being absorbed by the bare wood instead of reviving the old finish. I hope this helps you.
Kind regards
Simon
Another brilliant video Simon, thank you. I've recently waxed 3 smokers bow chairs... Too many bloody spindles!
Can I ask what the naphtha oil stain is? Is it like a teak oil with the white spirit replaced with naphtha?
Beautiful scenery round those parts too... We used to live in Cornwall :)
Thank you.
I’m not exactly sure what the formula is for the oil stain. It’s not something I would try and replicate without a formula. I would google it, there are a number of suppliers that stock it.
It’s a very versatile traditional stain.
I’m taking the van to Cornwall in the summer. ✅
@@GilboysRestoration thank you Simon, I thought it was you own recipe...I'll check it out. :)
Your videos are wonderful. Thank you so much for explaining everything so well. May I ask about the wire wool? I do some turning - in a very amateur fashion - and have been recommended to use wire wool when I do my final finish with wax (Carnuba and beeswax blend is my favourite). The wire makes the blend turn 'dirty' (don't know how else to describe it), it goes a dirty colour and stains, almost as if the wire were rusting! I have stopped using it now for that reason. What do you think I'm doing wrong? I love the trains, I live not far from the main WSR station and the sound of the 'whistle' is so evocative! 🤗
Hi Kathryn
Thank you for your kind comments. Like you have found out, I would avoid using the wire wool when turning.
I suspect the reason it's happening is because the wax is quickly melting with the friction, I'm not sure where the discolouration is coming from, unless the wire wool is actually in direct contact with the bare wood, in which case it will discolour.
I would stick with applying with a soft cloth. ✅
Only yesterday, on our return from camping at www.quantockcamping.com/ we passed over the little bridge at the end of Bishops Lydeard railway station. It looked to be a idyllic spot. The campsite was also one of the best we have ever stayed at, hence why I have copied the link for it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Best wishes
Simon
Do you restore under the seat?
I just love the outcome.
Very satisfying
I've done a few of those in my time. Unfortunately for me they all had been painted over. Stripping them was a pain. Beautiful result by the way.
Hi Jackie.
Thank you.
Yes stripping spindle back chairs is a real chore, but necessary when they are painted.
Hopefully this method of restoration will help save a few chairs, as it is easy to achieve without all the pain of stripping. ✅ Best wishes
Simon
@@GilboysRestoration I wish more people would do this, instead of “upcycling” with paint. Obliterating the beauty of wood with paint should be made illegal!
Simon Im attempting my first restoration and finding your work so inspiring. I have followed your advice on an ercol nest of tables with good results apart from being to liberal with my waxing and now struggling to buff it away, any tips on how I can rectify this rookie error
Take a look at this ua-cam.com/video/IpDg9S8tJeA/v-deo.html @43 minutes in I demonstrate a way of smoothing out the wax finish. I hope this helps.
Best Wishes
Simon
Great video but where can I get oil stain from?
Hey
Great vid
Please could you let me know the make of oil stain?
Many Thanks
Mark
Hi. I think I used Fiddes oil stain. 🙂
Looked fantastic. Very helpful and knowledgeable. Just one question...what do you do to the base of the seat. Do you treat that the same or leave it?
Hi Paul. Thanks for watching. Are you talking about the underside of the seat?
@@GilboysRestoration loving the videos. Yes
I recently repaired and revived two antique Windsor chairs, one high-back and the other very similar to your early Victorian "Irish" chair.
In both cases, pretty much every joint was loose, which was fun :-). Don't worry - I repaired them with hide glue.
I finished the chairs with Osmo Polyx, which looks ok, but does not have the lovely lustre of your waxed chairs. I tried polishing with beeswax polish, but it didn't seem to make any difference.
Would I see a difference if I were to apply your polish? Can it be applied over Osmo Polyx?
Hi Clive.
Thanks for watching. Yes I often demonstrate using this method of polishing: Seal with a hard wax oil and then apply one of our waxes.
It should give you a nice soft lustre.
I would try our antique gold. It should work nicely.
Kind regards
Simon.
Great looking chair - what naphtha oil stain would you recommend for a beech wood chair?
Hi Liz.
Be careful using any stains on bare beech wood. Beech will often absorb the colour unevenly leaving a rather patch finish.
If it has a finish on it then I would look at the colour of it and try to use a stain that looks similar to it. It's not important to match it . 🙂
Where so you get the oil stain? You have a prefered brand or do yoy make your own?
Hi Simon, I was lucky enough to find a Yorkshire broad arm Windsor chair very cheaply on eBay recently. Like your chair, this one just needed cleaning and refinishing so I followed your video to the letter and I'm very pleased with the result. A question if I may - years ago I inherited my grandfather's Yorkshire Windsor chair and in my ignorance I stripped it. I now regret it very much but I can't put the "character" back, what would you recommend? 😊
Hi Elaine.
I would maybe go with waxing it with a dark wax polish, then sealing it and then wax polishing it again with a dark polish.
This will give your chair some character and 'age' ✅ 🙂
@@GilboysRestoration Thanks Simon, I'll give it a try...😊
@@GilboysRestoration Hi Simon, When you say " wax then seal" what do you mean? 😊
Hi Simon
Quick question regarding repairing veneer, how do you deal with replacing very thick veneer when you can’t find any new matching veneer that matches the thickness, could I just stack and glue layers of thinner veneer - seems a little bodgy and a waste of beautiful veneer. Thanks
Yes, we have done that before. Basically laminating veneer to make it thicker. But most of the time, if we need a thicker veneer, we will cut it on the bandsaw after selecting an old piece of wood from our wood store.
We then sand it to the right dimension on the belt sander. All the time keeping the original finished face untouched. 🙂
Where to you get your stains from? I’m struggling to find good oil based stains
Hi Ellen. We have been using Fiddes oil stains. They are expensive but very good and easy to use.
Wow where he lives in beautiful.
Thank you, we are very lucky.
Hi Simon what brand of stain is that please or what pigments are used ?
Hi Nigel.
I used Fiddes oil stain on the chair. 🙂
Could you do this procedure if the chair had wax buildup?
Yes
what is a suitable reviver for a waxed surface
Hi Mrzombie. I would suggest buffing the surface to see if you can revive the wax. If not then apply a coat of wax polish to it?
How much would you normally charge for a small job like this?
would this work for deep water stains in an antique table top?
Hi Brian. It may do. It all depends on the finish on it and how deep the water stains are.
What’s in the squeeze bottle that you polish with thanks
I'm not sure I used it in this video. But I have french polish in one (shellac) and meths in the other. ✅
@@GilboysRestoration ok thanks paul
May I ask why you are using wire wool to apply the stain and not the rag? Thank you!
Hi Sarah.
Sometimes we use wire wool.
It just helps to clean the wood surface at the same time. That's all.
Kind regards
Simon
@@GilboysRestoration Thank you so much for the insight. :) Very cool!
@@SarahZunigaMusic Thank you
Received your polishing kit when I'm just about to do a chair rescued from a Pub skip, here goes.........
Hi Barney.
Thank you. How's it going?
Did you restore your VW Camper as well?!!
Hi Samantha.
No not really, it's mine, I've had it for 12 years. I restored the oak interior (all original 1972) In fact I've kept it all completely original. We use it in the summer months. It's very much loved and cared for. I have even kept the original faded curtains, which I now need to reline to protect them form further damage. 😀
Best wishes
Simon
Sir I am Indian I do polish in India
I don't get the use ofcthd stain oil
Sorry I don't understand? You don't get the use of the oil stain?
Have you watched the video?
those are just pub chairs in canada tho...
Yes, like a lot of furniture, this style of chair is mass manufactured. But this one is late Victorian.
Nope, I hate those dark Victorian shellac stains. I'd have taken to it with alcohol and tried to get it back toward its original stain and reinforced that colour with a sympathetically suitable coloured stain.
That's all very well for you. ✅
If you have experience and understand how to use a variety of active materials. Knowledge and experience takes time, knowing when to stop and when to start.
This method introduces a fail safe way of reviving a piece of antique furniture without fear of ruining it.
Kind regards
Simon
The biggest mistake was the initial cleaning: You should have removed the old shellac first with alcohol before applying new fresh shellac☹ .
However: it's a layman's forgery instead of traditional french polish . . .
But if you're satisfied with that - go for it !
Hi JB Violins.
I'm not sure I understand 🧐.
In this video I demonstrate a way of reviving the original finish, using techniques french polishers have been taught. The intention is; to show complete beginners, an easy to follow way of refreshing an antique without stripping any of the patinated finish. Therefore preserving it's history, be it original or not.
kind regards
Simon
Why the driving lesson?
Hi Charles. It gives the thousands of subscribers to our restoration channel a chance to see where we are in the world. I thought it was a nice thing for people to see. The short journey from our river and rail side workshop to my parents house less than a mile from the workshop. And in my antique camper van. I thought it added a warmth to the restoration.
Really? We have to watch you drive your vehicle through the countryside and all that slice of life stuff just to finally get to the cleaning tip?
Hi Peter.
I thought it would be nice for our regular viewers to see a little more than just our workshop. And show that this chair has a little provenance.
Kind regards
Simon.
gosh you waffle on far too much. I got fed up after 9 minutes and looked for another tutorial