Category: Articles

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While hubby and I thrill to go pickin’ for antiques in barns, there’s more than a little work involved in dealing with the not-so-nice side of “farm fresh”.

“Farm fresh” really is an oxymoron; for the reality is that these items are typically covered in all sort of “ick” — like bird and animal droppings, spider webs, and other things that make the layer (or two) of good old-fashioned dirt seem heavenly. *wink* Since I’ve just spent the past two days restoring some “farm fresh” finds (and rather spectacular ones at that — antique wooden school desk sets!), I thought it would be a good time to talk about just how to properly clean, care for, and restore antique wooden pieces.

It is important to note that when I say “restore”, I don’t mean “refinishing” these pieces. Like most collectors, we prefer to bring pieces back to life — while maintaining the patina and other signs of their former lives. Whether your antique and vintage furniture and other wooden items are covered in “farm fresh” filth or just need a little clean-up, here’s how you can gently take care of them.

As you can see, these old children’s school desk sets looked like they came out of a barn.

farm fresh dirty antique school desks

To remove the first layer of “crud”, you’ll want to “power wash” with the lawn hose. Stand a few feet away, and let the water spray away the cobwebs, leaves, dirt, clumps of bird poo, etc. Turn the piece over, so that you can get beneath it. This will remove a lot of the surface dirt, as well as stuff that’s hiding in nooks, crannies, and crevices.

antique wooden school desks

Unfortunately, that’s the easiest part. There’s lots more to do yet. And there’s nothing left to do but do it! *wink*

While the piece is still wet, fill a bucket with warm water, add some Murphy’s Oil Soap, and scrub with a rag. While the manufacturer does not recommend using Murphy’s Oil Soap on unfinished or unsealed wood (and with these old pieces, lots of the original finishes have been stripped or have just plain worn away), we’ve never had any problems. As with anything, test a small area first — especially if you have a painted piece of furniture, or one with decals.

At this point, you’ve probably got a bucket full of mud — and furniture that still isn’t clean. So you’ll need another bucket full of clean warm water and Murphy Oil Soap. Only this time, you’ll want to use one of those cleaning sponges with a non-scratching scrubby-side. (For projects like these, we recycle all the sponges which have been spent cleaning around the house.) Use the sponge to scrub off more stubborn dirt, going with the grain of the wood.

Now, you’ll want to let the pieces dry to be better able to evaluate them. (Plus, your arms will want the rest!)

Once completely dried, we discovered that these desks had been used as tables for painting projects — or at least to hold one of the paint cans, for there was a giant ring of paint and several large splashes of paint too. (Likely lead-based too.) So we had to make a choice and we opted to lightly sand away the offensive paint stains. Then it was one more wash with another bucket of diluted Murphy’s Oil Soap; this time using the soft side of the sponge to go with the wood grain.

After the desks and chairs had completely dried again, we were left with what nearly looked like bone-dry, but spotted, wood that had been left in the desert. Once again, we had to make a choice. While we do adore the charms of worn wood, this was too-worn looking; so we opted to liven it up a bit. But just a bit. While oil can darken or even blacken stained wood, we felt oil was better than wax in this particular case. (With finer pieces, you’ll probably want to use a paste wax. And if you have a lot of different types of antiques you want to treat, Renaissance Wax Polish can be used on lots of other surfaces. And, again, always test in a small, inconspicuous area first.) In the case of these antique school desks, we applied Old English Lemon Oil. Twice. The first coat was rubbed in, left overnight, then another coat was rubbed in the next day. This was the final result:

oiled antique school desks chairs

I think they turned-out quite lovely; even if I do say so myself!

I just love the patina on the one desk with the fancier (older) iron legs — complete with whatever remains of the green stain used and, most charming of all, the old carvings former students had made in the desk top.

names carved into antique wooden school desk

And this is how they look in the “back to school” window display at Antiques On Broadway, here in Fargo:

antique wooden school desks window fargo antiques on broadway

Now let’s talk about taking care of your antique furniture.

Beware the orange oil cleaners, especially for every day use. We can tell you from painful personal experience that those cleaners stripped the finish clear off an antique five-leg table in less than a year. For every day cleaning, use a damp towel with a mild soap — and, with a soft clean cloth, buff dry thoroughly. Wax or oil only when the shine has really left, which is likely once or twice a year.

 

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buy sell antiques fargo moorheadWith all the work we do in antiques and collectibles, we are often asked about appraisals. Here’s what we know, and what we do.

First of all, it is important to note that there is no such thing as a licensed appraiser in the United States of America. Unlike real estate appraisers, antiques appraisers (also called personal property appraisers) are not regulated at either the state or Federal level. Therefore, there are no state or “U.S. certified” antiques appraisers. There are, however, various appraiser societies such as the Appraisers Association of America (AAA), American Society of Appraisers (ASA), and International Society of Appraisers (ISA) which provide certification to their accredited members. These members have paid for such training and certification and they (rightfully) expect to profit from it. However, as such an investment in certification may not be a financially viable option for professionals in smaller towns, rural areas, and other less populated areas, you may not have access to such an appraiser locally.

If you’re looking to sell an item yourself, or are just curious about the value of something, we recommend reading this article (by moi) and/or paying for a service like PriceMiner. If you don’t have the time, or are too overwhelmed for such condition comparisons and investigations, we offer research & appraisal services which will help you get a “snapshot” perspective of the market as it is now, and, should you have a very valuable item or collection, we can refer you to the contacts we have at Cowan’s Auctions, Heritage Auctions, and/or Ivey-Selkirk. If you are rather certain that what you have has great monetary value, these auction houses will perform “verbal” or non-official appraisals to provide estimated auction values — even if you do not consign your item with them.

It is important to note that these services are not the same as appraisals for insurance, contractual, or other official purposes. (Heck, sometimes even your local pawn shop may require an official written appraisal in order to give you a more realistic value on a piece of fine jewelry.) In these cases, you will want someone who can properly complete the necessary paperwork to satisfy the requirements of your insurance company, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), etc. In those cases, you’ll need to pay for the professional services of an appraiser. (Yes, jewelry stores charge for these sorts of appraisals too.) If you are unsure of where to start your search for a reputable appraiser, you should know that the aforementioned auctioneers and other auction houses such as Sotheby’s will provide acceptable official written appraisals for insurance, estate, tax, or other legal purposes — for a fee. These companies may reduce the appraisal fee if you opt to use their auction services.

In the end, the type of appraisal help you need for your antique or collectible item is actually dependent upon one thing: your need of the appraisal. Are you curious? Hoping to make a few bucks? Or do you have a legal or contractual obligation for the appraisal?

Lastly, remember that the antiques and collectibles market, like any other, changes. That means appraisals, no matter who does them, ought to be performed every two to three years.

PS The photo (which you can click on to see a larger version) is of our recent display (of mostly Mid-Century Modern items) in the window space we have at Antiques On Broadway, in Fargo.

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We’ve been so busy this summer with selling at flea markets and increasing our booth space at Exit 55, that we’ve barely mentioned our writing here — but believe us, we’ve still been writing! We’ll try to do at least a weekly round-up of what and where we’ve been writing about antiques and collectibles. Here’s just some of what we’ve done in the past few days:

Derek wrote about the collectibles you can find in your very own pockets at flea markets and sales.

My most recent Collectors Quest column was about primitives and I received a question about one of the items in the photographs. Here is my response about the history of a small-to-medium sized antique keg or barrel.

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If you’re a collector of items or advertising from Minnesota companies, check out the vintage glass bottle of Gold Cross liquid “concentrated beverage base” in “imitation strawberry” flavoring currently in our case at Exit 55 Antiques. The syrup was made by Brechet & Richter Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota; here’s the article I wrote about the company and the bottle.

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