Later mahogany veneers are not so susceptible, but satinwood and crossbanding are particularly vulnerable. Brass stringing and inlay are also damaged by dry atomosphere, which will cause the metal to work upwards out of the surface. Shine up after polish has had time to sink into the wood. Use a soft cloth which will not catch or snag on veneered or inlaid surfaces. Sides of furniture, legs of tables, chairs and stands need feeding and protecting as much as the visible surfaces.
Solid woods can stand any amount of elbow grease.
It goes without saying that hardly any piece of furniture used regularly for 100 years or more can have escaped damage. Some repairs on antique furniture is inevitable, unless it is a rare and perfect piece which has remained in the same place with virtually no use during its entire existence. Any restorations carried out, should not mean to deceive, it should be detectable by close observeration and above all should be reversible, it is therefore most important to choose an experienced restorer than understands and practices this concept to restoration. Increasingly there is a view that good natural colour and patination, the result of age and the attention a piece has received, is desirable. Certainly it is a wonderful protection against fakes because it is pracically impossible to reproduce.