renewing old secretary

[Greg Labacz]

My wife got an old secretary from her cousin and wanted to know if there is a easy way to renew it without stripping to bare wood. There are some nicks and dents and it is a little worn, but , not in terrible shape. My wife wants me to just paint it.

[Jim Rimmer]

Got any pics? Is it worth restoring?

[Mike Wilkins]

You could try a good cleaning first, then get some wax pens or Minwax touch-up pens to fill in the scratches. After a thorough cleaning and wiping off any cleaning residue, a coat of Shellac may bring some life back into it.
If you can live with the scratches, a simple clean & shellac method may do the trick. Good luck.

[Scott Holmes]

GoJo cream (not the pumice) hand cleaner is a great way to clean old furnitue without removing the old finish.

[Steve Schoene]

I'll second the thought to post some pictures. 99 times of a 100 it won't be worth much, and can be refinished or even painted without hurting value. It's just that 1 chance that you need to look out for.

[Michael Schwartz]

Many antique purists would tell you at most just to lightly clean it, since even dirt adds value.

I would recommend picking up a book on antique restoration since that would cover most situations, and help with identifying the current finish, and the appropriate techniques to renew it.

Unless you need to repair surface damage to much of the wood, or the finish is heavily damaged, you can probably repair it without stripping/refinishing.

However you should decide the value of the piece as an antique and consider how it would be affected.

[Steve Schoene]

Those are not "purists" just ignorant fad followers.

[mike holden]

True, John Kirk is the furniture historian who started the "buy it grungy, keep it grungy" movement. If I was a billionaire, I would buy up all the grungy furniture that comes to auction and refinish it! The only reason *HE* wants the grunge on it is so that the grunge can be tested for age and locations of where it has been (geographically) it adds nothing to the furniture itself.
Pooh! Good furniture was taken care of, and was at least wiped down regularly. The original owners would be shocked that their furniture was treated so shabbily.
Yeah, its a hot button with me.
Mike

[Steve Schoene]

Even John Kirk has had second thoughts. He has a Section titled "'Buy it Ratty andLeave It Alone' Revisited" in his 2000 book, American Furniture. He originally intended that primarily for painted furniture, and was, in 1975. when he expressed the idea, writing against a context where folks were stripping Windsor's right and left.

It is a mystery to me why furniture would be worth more if it passed out of families that that the wealth and sensibilities to maintain it into families that would put a Townsend desk in the barn. (Actually, of course, it is likely to be the generational change and misfortune that is responsible.) ALL of the fine furniture made in the 18th century was made for the very wealthy.