A client brought me a oak rocker, made by the Rex Furniture company in Rex, Ga, from an estate of a heavy smoker. Finish is in good shape just a lot of nicotine all over the piece, what would be the best way to clean without damaging the original finish. Denatured Alcohol??? Orange Oil?? It also has a oak woven seat which has absorbed the smoke as well. Just let it air out?
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If the finish is shellac, your DNA will dissolve it. And that may not be a bad thing necessarily. But I'd try naptha first. It will dissolve waxes and rinse the dirt and smell without harming any finish whatsoever.
After you clean it, a wash of shellac will seal up the smells.
Back in the days when I bought and sold old furniture for a living, I didn't know about Naptha, never tried it on a piece of furniture. If you do use it for this rocker, be sure and wear a respirator, that stuff is n-a-s-t-y! really bad for your body (yes, I use it in the shop).
Mineral spirits would be safe to use. I have used orange oil too. I remember one bookcase in particular, beautiful mahogany case from about the 1930's, just thick with grime from sitting in a house uncleaned for ages. I spread the orange oil film on there and just let it sit for hours. When I wiped it down, a huge percentage of the grime came off. Three treatments had it looking like new. That's a largish flat surface though, don't know how you'd do this with a rocker.
Airing will help the seat, but not cure it. There is a powdered product that specifically designed to take cigarette smell out of things. Don't remember what it's called, but if you tape a piece of cardboard under the seat and sprinkle such a product over it to cover the woven oak, it may draw the smell out. Even baking soda might work. If there's a mild smell left, a light misting with Febreze may help, but it will get the oak wet.
That's funny. The material safety data sheets shows orange oil acute LD50 five times as dangerous as naptha.
http://www.sciencelab.com/xMSDS-Orange_oil_Sweet-9926333
http://www.sciencelab.com/xMSDS-Precipitation_Naptha_ASTM-9926174
You have to scroll down a ways to get the LD50s. Please note that the lower the the LD50, the more poisonous the substance.
You've provided a great example of how one can selectively pick from the whole body of a report a single piece of data and skew any understanding of the full picture. Perhaps some of the summary sections would be more enlightening. Blue = Naptha Orange = Orange oil (BTW, this is pure orange oil. The orange oil of which the OP and I speak is a diluted mixture):
Then there's this pleasant list (partial):
The corresponding one for Sweet Orange Oil is considerably less (I'm getting tired of editing them to fit this window, LOL).
Nice try, guy, but it doesn't wash. <grin>forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
selectively pick from the whole body of a report a single piece of data and skew ...........
Not so at all. I stated the LD50. That is all.
LD50 is not all that useful a measurement -- in fact it is somewhat in disrepute in some circles. All it means it that after ingesing the stated amount, half of the mice were dead. It doesn't touch at all on other effects, or whether you have to eat it or can just inhale it to be hurt.
Joe
It doesn't touch at all on other effects.........
Never said it did.
Thanks for the help.
I find that naphtha and water-based cleaners (e.g., Dawn in water) do limited cleaning of smoke residue. What I find extremely effective is Kitchen Cabinet Wipes. If you don't want to buy these, check out the MSDS for ingredients and look for something similar. Be aware that they are quite alkaline and may damage some finishes.
I have cleaned things with these and pulled up smoke residue that was 40 years old, and other pieces that the owner cleaned 4 times with Murphy's oil soap and lots of scrubbing.
I second the mineral spirits and a lot of elbow grease. I use a terry cloth towel rag to help it along. You should be able to wipe the seat also. And the idea of sealing with a coat of shellac will help out the final result.
After the mineral spirits you could also rub it down with Briwax which will also continue the cleaning process.
I have a really old book somewhere that recommended the following formula for this sort of task. I've used it for years and it works for me.
1/3 turpentine
1/3 white vinegar
1/3 linseed oil
You need to shake it up every so often as you use it, as it tends to separate. But it does the job and is pretty gentle to the piece. Apply it with an appropriate grade of 3M pad.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
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