The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1911-02-17
TO RENEW FURNITURE
PIANO FINISH is GIVEN BY MANY
COATS OF VARNisH.
Much scraping and sandpaperins
Necessary in This Method-Cracks
and Holes Must Be Filled
With Putty.

There are various ways OF renoVat-
tng furniture. The best consists in
the application Of successive coats OF
yarnish, each sandpapered and rubbed
10 what is known as plano finish.
This method is the finish you will find
ON almost all the old mahogany OF
our grandfathers' days. The first
thing, then, is to get off the dust and
dirt, and to remove every particle OF
the old cracked and blackened warm
ish from the piece Of furniture you
wish to renovate. To do this you Will
need a cabinet scraper. These scrap-
ers come in various shapes and sizes,
and are made to ft the different
angles and curves of the wood to be
scraped They may be bought for ten
or fifteen cents The edges are draw
filled and ready for use. II the edge
is rounded the scraper will do no
work. If rough or nicked the wood
will be scratched and perhaps ruined.
With a good scraper you will be sur
prised and charmed to see how quick
ly and nicely you can get down to the
bare wood.
If there is deep carving on the
piece of furniture the operation must
be varied. Take wood alcohol, and
with brush or cloth apply to every
nook and crevice. Let it stand for
little while and then wipe 1t off and
scrape the wood clean as before d.
rected. The wood alcohol will soften
the varnish, so that it may be easily
removed Care must be taken not to
allow the varnish to turn white.
Should it do so apply more OF the
alcohol and wipe dry at once. If the
alcohol once reaches the wood 1t Will
turn it white, provided 1t is mahog-
any, which is the only wood on which
alcohol has this effect 1t merely
bleaches other woods.
The wood being cleaned the surface
must be made absolutely smooth. For
this use double sandpaper. Smooth
down all the rough spots, and fill all
the cracks and holes with putty,
which must be allowed to harden,
when it may be stained to match the
color of the wood. If the placing OF
the putty is carefully done even a
large crack or a broken piece of We
neer may be so hidden that 1t cannot
be seen when the work is finished.
The wood will then be ready for
the varnish. The average amateur
cannot understand that the art Of
vanishing differs very materially
from painting. Paint Is better for
rubbing in with the brush, but var
nish, because of the rapidity in dry
ing, must be flowed on to the work.
The work must always lay fiat and
remain so until the varnish has set.
A varnish brush Is fiat and fairly stiff
and fine Put plenty of varnish on
the wood, avoiding too much rubbing
with the brush. 1t will settle into a
glazed surface If you have flowed
1t on evenly.
AS to the varnish itself, buy the
best that can be had Finishing var
nish" of good quality is what you
want. Before applying it, however,
you will find that time and expense
will be saved by putting on two coats
of fine white shellac, allowing each
coat to dry thoroughly for at least
twenty-four hours. If shellac is used
only two coats of varnish will be nee
sssary.