Before
This is the coffee table that I picked up (craigslist) before work last week. The one where the seller was carrying out the coral vinyl barstools (thoroughly cleaned the vinyl last night...look Sweet!). Even though the seller had wiped it down to knock off the dust it was still pretty dirty. Enter Murphy Oil Soap and Howard's Restore-A-Finish.
After
Yesterday sucked. It was actually cold. Really cold. Today? Right back to Spring! I think the
high was like 65 or something. So I dragged out this table and hosed it down with the Murphy
Oil Soap to clean off the rest of the dirt and detritus. You can almost hear an audible sigh when
these old birds get really cleaned for the first time in years.
Before / After
The table cleaned up real nice. It's kinda hard to tell from the pictures. I should have shot some
detail before and after pics but when you're trying to get something done before the sun disappears
well, you do what you can while you can. After cleaning the wood with the Murphy Oil Soap I
cleaned the black formica inserts with Pro Green Kleen and hit the frame with the Howard's.
Gawd...I'm such a shill. For real though, all this stuff works great...and noooooo, I'm not a paid
spokesman.
Before / After
I picked this particular table up a. because it's a cool looking table, b. I get lot's of requests for
long low coffee tables, and c. it was cheap and I can pass it on cheaply! So, like I tell everybody
who asks if I have a particular item but don't...it'll end up on the blog first, so if you see it there
ASK me about it then. He who hesitates may never arrive...or get that long low coffee table
they've been looking for!
Before / After
I probably won't get around to dropping it on my c-list ad(s) right away, along with the recently
featured pole lamp and a couple other choice items, but it'll happen soon. I imagine this table
will "go" quickly too since it seems so many people need one...and it's a good looking table. I
don't know what company made it. I didn't see a mark or label on it. It's pretty solid but it's
not very heavy. The two black panels are removable.
Before / After
So the table isn't 100 over 100. It's in good vintage condition. There are bumps and bruises in
the wood. It's been around the block. I'll be asking a price reflective of this. The Howards did
a wonderful job of visually blending the darker and lighter areas as well as the light scratches.
It's cool like that. All the hard work is done. Now it just needs someone to drop in front of
their sofa!
Now that is a sharp looking piece. I'll be watching your C's list ad for that one.
ReplyDeleteHi Dave. Ugh...so much to do. So little time!
DeleteSo, I'm curious now. The Murphy's oil soap is definetely great for cleaning wood surfaces, as well as lots of other things (We use it on our real linoleum floors we had installed) but I may have some concerns that it might inhibit the wood from taking either an over-stain or even the RAF. Looks great though, so I guess it's not a problem!
ReplyDeleteHi A Mod. You might be on to something with that concern. It didn't occur to me at the time but it may have done exactly what you said to some extent. I thought the RAF would darken some of the lighter areas a little more than it did, but not so much that I thought much about it. I don't let the Oil Soap soak in much, if at all. I spray it on (I mix it in a generic spray bottle) and wipe it off almost immediately, so I don't think it has too much effect on the RAF.
Delete