What Furniture Polish?

[Spectre]

I was just wondering what kind/brand of furniture polish would be best for real wood veneers? What are other members using here to protect and look after their speakers? When I was in the UK I used to use Mr Sheen but I haven't seen it in the US.

[Tedrick]

Howard's Feed-N-Wax is good stuff.

[Spectre]

Thanks Tedrick, nice one.

Any other suggestions from folks out there?

[classicstylus]

For real wood, try a light coloured olive oil, or, better still, cricket bat oil (linseed). I've still got a pair of Spendor SP1s and they love a gentle oiling every few years. So do I, come to think of it...

Michael.

[Whitneyville]

Good old Johnsen's Paste Floor Wax and a lamb's wool bonnet at slow speed (less than 500 RPM) in an electric drill or 7" buffer to polish it off or lot's of elbow grease like I do my hardwood floors, and like my Grandmother did. For over 65 years this has worked very well on them. Now they are gymnasium finished, so if your speakers are oil finished, removing the wax from the grain will be much more difficult, so Old English Oil (with a soft natural bristle brush to remove the dirt) or other oil might be easier to use. Woodcraft woodworking shops sell the finest wood cleaning and protecting products I know of. They and Rockler both sell online too. I don't have either catalog at hand right now, but both have several pages of wood cleaner/protectants.

[kelvinMunson]

I have renovated tired and faded veneer, on speakers and turntable plinths, by gentle rubbing down with wire wool and application of boiled Linseed Oil........ you can get a great finish.

[MonkeyBoy]

An antique dealer told me about something called bees oil, a mixture of bees wax and mineral oil and that's all I use now. Woods love this stuff.

[Whitneyville]

Q: Is this a "re-finishing" or normal care thing? For a re-finish, sand with 320 grit paper and use the new danish oils, they are almost fool-proof. For normal care, http://www.woodworkingshop.com (Klingspor's) sells beeswax (light and dark) Myland's Wax, Blue Label Paste Wax, BriWax in 6 colors, and Craftsman Polish, and more. Good wood care products aren't easy to use (just like the best auto waxes), but they don't need to be used as often. There are also many, many finish "restoration" products sold by the woodworking houses to take care of scratches, scrapes, water-rings and so-on. Woodcrafters and other woodshops are more than happy to help you choose and use their products. Just march right in to one and say "I'm not sure what I need." and they'll bend over backwards to help you. If you can make it during a weekday, they won't be as busy as weekends, and will have more time to spend with you. A good paste wax applied with a soft cloth and brushed (AND BRUSHED) with a good natural bristle brush then buffed with a lamb's wool pad should last over a year, if dusted with a Swiffer (tm) duster at least weekly. Please don't use spray "furniture polishes" or most you'll find in a supermarket. Most of them contain mineral spirits (paint thinner) as a main ingredient and obviously that's not good.

[PMBroadhurst]

I was just wondering what kind/brand of furniture polish would be best for real wood veneers? What are other members using here to protect and look after their speakers? When I was in the UK I used to use Mr Sheen but I haven't seen it in the US.

I had exactly the opposite problem when I moved to UK. However, it depends on the finish of your speakers. If it is an oiled finish like old JBLs, etc, then furniture oil from a hardware store ois best. If it is a stained, almost plasticy finish as B&W use then just use Pledge (like Mr. Sheen). If you want to really go to town, use a little white spirit to clean the old oil, and then apply new (not applicable to the plasticy B&W type finish). Always test the white spirit somewhere like the bottom of the unit first, just in case.

[Jim Leach]

To 'feed' open (unfinished wood) I use and suggest lemon oil. This is all I ever used on open fingerboards on the guitars I was making (well, we tried almond oil as well but went back to lemon oil). Great on Ebony, all the rosewoods and other hard exotics (Cocobolo, Jatoba etc.).

If it has a finish, you need to know what that finish is. Most speakers with a finish have either lacquer (OLD speakers) or polyurethane finish. On these, I use and suggest En Dust furniture polish. It's the only one (I know of) that is not LOADED with Silicone. Silicone is BAD for lacquer, and worse of polyurethane.

For waxes, I suggest One Grand Blitz Wax. It is a car wax; however it has a very high concentration of carnauba and in spite of this is not an arm breaker to remove (unlike butcher's wax for example). I use it on the car, and it lasts six months in the acid rain. Extrapolate that to something sitting in your living room and you see it will last a long time. Note that this wax will dry somewhat white, so if you have deep, open grain wood (such as red oak) it will leave white residue (wax) in the open grain that will not look pleasant... on a hard finish (lacquer, poly) this stuff is the bees knees.

[Spectre]

My speakers are a real wood veneer ( Spendor SA 1 in Satin Wenge) over MDF so I'm assuming the veneer is pretty thin, wire wool is not an option. As they are brand new they don't need any work or renovation to the finish, I simply want to protect them without compromising the cabinets or drivers. I thank all here that made suggestions, lots of useful advice to be gleaned so I think I'll try Feed-N-Wax as it seems highly rated product.

[kelvinMunson]

Although in your case this is obviously not required; wire wool, if carefully use,d is a very fine abrasive and will just remove the old polish from the surface.......... great for renovating faded thin veneer.

[Jim Leach]

I am very familiar with Wenge (I've used quite a bit of it over the years) and I would stick with an oil on it personally. It has a VERY open grain (worse than oak by far) and any wax-containing product could turn white in these pores, which looks extra-bad on such a dark wood. I advice against any wax, although I do not have first-hand experience with this 'feed-n-wax' product. Perhaps contact the manufacturer of the feed-n-wax and see what they say about open grain dark wood... Maybe it will be perfectly fine!

I used oil (lemon oil) on my Vandersteens which have a paper-thin veneer of walnut.

Also agree that 0000 steel wool will be OK on Wenge as well; however bear in mind there is a chance of getting fibers in the open grain that could cause problems (like rust) under certain conditions, so you have to be absolutely sure they are clean when you finish buffing. I would stick to very fine scotch brite if you needed to strip wax; however if I was doing a speaker cabinet in Wenge I would use a tung oil finish myself. I have used tung oil on Wenge and Koa and it is really a nice, warm and natural finish. Lemon oil over this finish will be quite acceptable for you (BUT I do not know what was used for the original finish, so you may want to contact the maker to see if they can give you some guidance).

Hope that helps!

[BruceLeeRules]

I am not sure about unfinished wood, but sealed or lacquered wood, as well as high-gloss, glass, or metal furniture is best cleaned, polished, and protected with Polyshield furniture polish and Polyshield X-Staticizing spray. These polishes remove dirt, fingerprints, minor scratches. They then repel dust, and make furniture shine like new and protect from common hazards for weeks and months. This stuff is amazing. I ordered both recently at www.polyshieldproducts.com.