Every so often I see a comment regarding whether furniture needs to be nourished or oiled. The implication is that, because of age, the wood has become weaker or damaged and needs to be rehydrated or something similar. I’ve never seen this suggested for old lumber, even if stored in a conditioned (heated or heated and air conditioned) space. Extending the concept, wall and floor framing in every house would be in similar state.
Certainly makers of furniture polish/oil/restorer/. . . are promoting the concept, but I’ve heard the idea broached by woodworkers too. Some finishes may shrink, crack, and weaken over time, but wood in a conditioned space? Is this another urban myth or not?
Replies
Total fantasy
You need to nourish your wood. I suggest reading to it every day. Read from a Kindle lest the wood think, "Uh-oh, that paper could have been me!"
The scientific, educated approach
This guy
http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Wood-Finishing-Charonne-woodworking/dp/091880406X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274674954&sr=1-1
was THE MAN when it came to the scientific, educated approach to wood finishing and he totally said what Sapwood and Ray here are telling you. Except about the Kindle but I bet he would agree there as well.
Also James Krenov believed that some woods ( such as ash or maple ) looked best unfinished or just lightly waxed ( hard micro crystalline wax
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/renaissancewax.aspx
not Pledge spray goop ) and he was doing top shelf work intended for the long haul.
Don, it's pure myth invented by advertising types, all possibly hyperventilating as they spin the nonsense text... but who knows or really cares, ha, ha? Wood, kept dry and sound, retains its strength and visual characteristics for centuries. I could drag up some references to support this view, but I don't have the time now. Slainte.
Nourishment
I feed my spinach and asparagus to my lean-looking kitchen table.
But other than that, I don't do anything, nor do I feel the need to.
I've always thought this was so much road apples, but wan'ted some other opinions. It's a difficult topic to address with customers, as some fervently believe the marketing claims.
apples of the road kind
I agree with the idea that furniture located inside the average home doesn't require "nourishment" to the degree claimed by the makers of polishes and oils. But, if the environment is taken to extremes - super-dry air, heat, etc. - there may be some justification for the claims.
Here is a photo of the exterior wall of a jail building located in Ballarat, a ghost town in Panamint Valley, next door to Death Valley. After a hundred years of sun, heat, and almost no moisture, it looks a little worse for the exposure. Might it have faired better with a little "nourishment" (or, protection)? ;-)
Ralph,
Yup, a little lemon Pledge, and that wall will be good as new.
Or, maybe some Formby's restore a finish would do the trick.
;-)
Ray
There is much discussion about oil finishes needing to be renewed from time to time, particularly on work benches.
With that in mind, shouldn't they be called "oil starts" instead? ;-)
Semantics
I'm asking, because I'm not sure ...
My first thought is that a oil only finish, such as linseed oil, may need to be re-coated after years of use because the surface has been lightly abraded. The oil does not penetrate very deeply, so even wearing away a microscopic thickness will change the look. It would be similar to a shellac finish that has been rubbed extensively over time, although shellac is a film building finish. One would probably want to add shellac to restore that finish, rather than a "nourisher." With the aged oil finish, my first thought is to wipe on another coat of the oil finish instead of a "nourisher" which may have a combination of unidentified ingredients.
Yes, oil finishes may need to be renewed from time to time. It's because the finish materials have continued to oxidize and no longer provide the original sheen. But, even so applying mineral oil with lemon scent is going to have little impact on the process, but just coating the surface with a very effecient dust collector. Wax, may add some pleasant sheen and extend the period between renewal, but wax becomes a continual process in itself.
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