I acquired a tall wood hutch that sat in a family owned restaurant for at least 40 years. It has a very thick coating of what I believe is floor wax on the wood apron that goes around the base of the piece.
I had worked there for several years before they closed and there was a man that came in twice a month for 30 years that cleaned all the wood floors and used a liquid floor wax - and he obviously never bothered wiping it off the base of all the furniture.
What can I use to remove the thick coat of gunk? It is a very thick layer. I tried cleaning it when I first brought it home 10 years ago, but finally gave up and have it stored. Anybody know of a solvent that will remove it?
Thank you.
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Murphy's Oil Soap is excellent for this.
Thank you, Judy. Murphys was one of the products I tried initially. I thought it would, at the very least, soften it a bit but it had no effect whatsoever.
There are several ways to do this but the hutch needs to be in a well ventilated area.
Thank you @cybergrannie, I think I tried every concoction known to man except ammonia! Luckily, I have a work area in the barn and big ventilation fans for just that purpose. As soon as my husband gets back into town, I'll get the base out of storage and try that. Thanks again. I've copied the link and going to check it out right now.
Please let us know if any method works for you as someone reading the question later may be needing the same type of help and your response might help them also.
Have you tried using a fine steel wool to sand it off? I have an old church pew that had the same issue. In one area it had a chuck of it 1/4 inch thick stuck.
Thank you @mom-from-missouri, when I first brought it home and started working on it, I was planning to give it a light sanding to get the shine off - to refinish it without completely stripping it. I've done this before successfully with other furniture and have used 600 steel wool- (the kind that doesn't have the oily coating- hard lesson learned!) The hutch is actually 2 pieces- the top half of the hutch was in much better shape so I started work on the base first. As soon as I hit the apron on the base with the steel wool, then sandpaper, it felt like dried, hard chewing gum. I then tried using a random orbital power sander. After several minutes, it looked white and the sanding pad was starting to gum up.
I would go straight for the turpentine, acetone, or some other solvent specially designed to clean up oil paints/waxy oil things. THere is a risk that it might be too strong and damage the original varnish though
I use TSP on all wood that is grimy or has nicotine build up. You would be amazed at how well this takes crud down.
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