Friday, March 11, 2011

I Started Cleaning Up This Mid-Century Pull Down Light Fixture And Realized I Needed Before and After Pics! Status: Surprised at how Clean It Came!

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I picked this up when I bought the Heywood Wakefield coffee table last fall. The seller was trying to get rid of lots of stuff, like a garage sale, and this was just sitting there waiting for me!

It was looking pretty rough and I wasn't sure it would clean up or even be

salvageable without painting the hood. It had been taken down quite some time

ago and been moved around a lot. There was a ring on top of the hood where the

mount cover had been rolling against it and I though it might have worn through

the anodization. Luckily the previous owner had let the cleaning go and there was

a thick coating of hardened grease there to protect the finish!

Before cleaningAfter cleaning
Before......................................................After

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Here you can see the line where I stopped cleaning momentarily to shoot some

pics. The dirt and grease was covering an nice shiny nearly perfect finish! There

are still some white specks of wall paint on it that I haven't taken the time to

remove yet. Those will require a bit of soaking. I used Goof Off and paper towels.

It was nasty. I went through four paper towels soiling every inch of each. I was

inspired to drag this out of the garage and clean it up by this posting at

Back2Ranch where they REALLY cleaned up a Magnificent pull down light
. They

have a beautiful kitchen full of Geneva steel cabinets too! I'm so envious.

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Here you can see the front side of the hood has been cleaned up where as the

back side hasn't yet been done. The difference is amazing. I couldn't believe how

nice the finish still was. And the "wear" ring from the mount cover had been rolling

against the hood was just in the filth. It totally came out!

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And here it is ALL cleaned up. I didn't go as far as the Back2Ranch folks with all

the taking apart and stuff. I think it turned out pretty nice. I wish I could have

gotten a better picture of how bad it was before. You too would be surprised at

how much better it looks now!

12 comments:

  1. You did a great job cleaning it! It looks brand new. It's amazing to me how pieces that old have survived in good condition like that.

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  2. Isn't it amazing what a good cleaning will uncover? You have brought this fixture back to life. I really like the design, especially the shade.

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  3. Very nice job! These old lights are great and clean up really well. Yours looks like a wonderful one and the cord looks like it is good shape too.

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  4. Wow! thats a pretty awesome looking lamp! That would look cool in a kitchen I think!

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  5. Looks great! I have a similar lamp up in the attic. It is in way worse shape then yours though. Who knows if I'll ever getting around to doing something with it!

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  6. Dana - I love Goof Off! It's my (not so) secret weapon.

    K4M - I'm glad to have breathed life back into this. I've put it on my ad so hopefully someone else can keep it alive and kicking!

    Anony - Where ya at?

    B2R - Yours looks better!

    Fizzle - I wish we could use it. It's actually too big and slightly the wrong color for out kitchen.

    Vintage H - Paint it!

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  7. How much does a lamp like this run?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous.

      Prices will vary depending on where you find one...and finding one is the gard part!

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    2. I have one still hanging in my dining room from its original installation back in the 60's. It is identical to this! I'm looking for any information on brand/manufacturer/model etc. I wasn't able to locate any tags or stickers. If anyone has any info I would appreciate it! This has inspired me to clean mine up a bit--yours looks great!!

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  8. I realize that these are old posts but if anybody has a light identical to this then I would love to purchase it from you. Please contact me if interested.

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  9. If anybody passing through has a light like this that they would consider selling please let me know. I've been looking for this exact one.

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