I have a 60 year old drop leaf mahogany table and 4 chairs. Inherited from my parents who smoked all their lives. When they died, my brother took it to his musty house. Now I have it. The weather has turned humid and this thing stinks! I've tried cleaning it with Murphy's Oil Soap. Nope, still stinks. I want to paint, refinish or sell it. Can you help with suggestions?
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Hello Farquist,
I would try refinishing it before you decide to sell it (since it's a family gem). Here are some tips on refinishing old wood:
http://houseandhome.com/design/refinishing-dining-set
Good luck!
Gwen McAuley (gmcauley at hhmedia.com)
Mineral spirits is a great wood cleaner but it's also very flammable so you might want to try this first.
If this is the typical older table it may have a shellac finish on it (kind of shiny and may have some flaking spots or lighter spots where hot or water things sat). If it is, that is a really easy finish to remove. You just need some rubbing alcohol (the stuff you get in the drug store). You can test it by using a cotton ball or q-tip with some alcohol on it and rubbing for a bit. If it's shellac it will start to dissolve leaving the original stain intact (alcohol is the base for shellac so adding the alcohol makes it liquid again which is why it's easy to wipe it all away).
Then you can add any protective finish you like (although most antique types would appreciate you just putting new shellac back on it to keep it authentic. That too is very easy as shellac is really fast and inexpensive. It's also very forgiving because mistakes can be removed with the rubbing alcohol. Done properly, it's shellac, sand with very fine steel wool, shellac, etc. until you have a nice finish. French polish finish is several coats done like this.).
I think once you get whatever old finish is off, you should find the smoke smell gone. Note, most furniture is not finished on the undersides and that could be where the smoke/musty smell is lingering versus it being all on top. You may just be able to seal that in by applying a finish to those surfaces.
If you want to, before you get into any finish removal, try cleaning the table (undersides in particular probably) first with some ammonia (mixed with some water & open some windows because the stuff is pretty stinky... it's cheap cheap and usually in the grocery store right beside the bleaches). Ammonia cuts smoke residue better than anything and a good cleaning with that may be all you need to do. The Murphy's soap (or just about any other soap) won't remove that residue the way ammonia will. Warning, some woods like oak will darken if ammonia is left on so it cleaning small areas at a time vs spraying it all over and then wiping it off. They actually use an ammonia steam bath set up to fake antiques or when they want to darken some woods.
Thanks for the detailed information. I'm going to try the mineral spirits first and see where that takes me.
I asked my DH whom is a wood care expert and he suggested to wash all of the pieces with a rag dampened (wet but not dripping) with mineral spirits. This will help get rid of any residue from waxes, furniture polishes, etc which will have absorbed any of the odors. After wiping with the mineral spirits rag, dry off with a dry rag.
If this does not solve the issue, you will have to strip the finish off. Test a spot with nail polish remover to find out what kind of finish you have on there. If the nail polish remover softens the finish, it can be removed easily with a product called Antique Refinisher by Minwax. What this does is takes the top coat off but does not remove the colour or patina of the wood. Then all you would have to do it reapply a top coat. I prefer an oil finish such as Minwax Antique Oil or Tung Oil which is absorbed in to the wood (this is a good thing to put moisture back into the furniture). Easy to apply and looks great. I have used this many times on my furniture peices and love the product. You can apply a polyurethane finish but a little harder to apply. Wipe On Poly by Minwax is the easiest to apply if you go this route. This finish sits on the surface and does not soak into the wood.
If your test spot does not soften the finish, then you will need to use a paint/polyurethane remover. Alot more messy and more work.
If you decide to paint, make sure you scuff sand everything and then use a stain blocking primer before you paint. The stain blocking primer should stop the smell from seeping through plus will help with the smoke stain from coming through the paint as well. Hope this helps.