Shopsmith Forums

Saw this on Facebook. Has anyone heard of repairing wood with Vinegar & Canola Oil?? It has to be true I saw it on the internet.

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Probably work good on a salad bowl.

Actually it does work. You only need the vinager to remove scuffs; the canola oil, linseed oil, olive oil, mineral oil, or even 10/30 motor oil will restore the wood and look great long enough for you to take a picture and post it on the internet. What happens after a few days is well known to anyone who has restored furniture. Cheap tricks and shortcuts never last and don't work.

Two years ago I saw a stereo cabinet from circa 1950, in my son's house that I had taken the guts out of in 1968, before he was born, and restored it for other purposes. He wanted to know how I put the finish on it. What I used Was a bottle of Blue Coral polish (Cadillac product from the '50s). I later concluded that it was a liquid based (oil but not water) with rotten-stone. Probably you can create your own.

A friend introduced me to this when he bought a Carmen Ghia with dull red paint (like flat-red) and with Blue Coral he restored it to showroom finish. Then he fixed a few things, cleaned it, steamed the engine to remove oil and sold it for $2000 more than what he paid. Today that's like $30,000 more just from some cosmetic improvements. He made about $1000 per hour on his restoration.

Almost any vegetable oil will serve as a carrier for rotten-stone.

If only that would work! As db5 says, it may temporarily improve the look of some finishes. And it may ruin others.

Leaving vinegar on a piece with a shellac finish, for instance, would be a bad idea.

And a lot of oils will oxidize over time and leave a gummy, grimy surface that cannot be removed except with sandpaper or some very sophisticated enzymes.

Linseed oil which is part of many home-brew furniture polishes/finishes will turn black over time. The Winterthur Museum in Delaware used to polish all of its priceless antiques with "Winterthur Dressing" which was basically linseed oil. They have spent the last 25 years trying to remove the black goo it left behind without damaging the antiques. The only thing they put on now to polish their furniture is wax (Renaissance Wax is what most museums use).

Repairing finishes is a pretty specialized area and you really need to understand whether it is a film finish or a non-film finish and a whole bunch of other things before you can decide how to make a lasting, invisible finish repair.

algale,
are sure they used boiled LO? and not just Linseed oil? BLO has a drying agent in it, linseed oil does not. That is the difference between the 2. BLO if but on too heavily will still take forever to dry.
I agree, you need to know what the original finish was B4 trying to repair it. Most older, mass produced furniture is a lacquer base finish, for spraying and quick drying for multiple coats.
Vegetable base oils are terrible for wood, not acidic enough, and no trying agent/vehicle, Canola oil being one of the least acidic, olive oil, one of the most acidic V oils is okay for salad bowls if lightly coated but mineral oil for wooden kitchen utensils is the better choice.

Bob, if it were me, I'd use food-grade flaxseed oil, or walnut oil. Both of which are "drying" oils, and both of which are edible oils.

While flaxseed oil and linseed oil come from the same (flax) plant, flaxseed oil is produced without nasty chemicals, and is a "health food" product. (And, priced accordingly!$)

Most tree nut (like walnut) oils are drying oils, and will work just fine. (Peanuts don't grow on trees!)

steve

Also, apply any natural "oil" thinly. You may want to wait to apply another THIN coat.

steve

rbursek wrote:algale,
are sure they used boiled LO? and not just Linseed oil? BLO has a drying agent in it, linseed oil does not. That is the difference between the 2. BLO if but on too heavily will still take forever to dry.
I agree, you need to know what the original finish was B4 trying to repair it. Most older, mass produced furniture is a lacquer base finish, for spraying and quick drying for multiple coats.
Vegetable base oils are terrible for wood, not acidic enough, and no trying agent/vehicle, Canola oil being one of the least acidic, olive oil, one of the most acidic V oils is okay for salad bowls if lightly coated but mineral oil for wooden kitchen utensils is the better choice.

You are correct, I meant linseed oil not BLO. Correction noted below.

Skuo,
I agree on the other oils, I am just not that familiar with them other then for cooking/salad dressing use. Most mineral oil is food grade, used as a laxative for decades, even though it is petroleum based. Actually all wood finishes, WHEN try are food/child safe since they took lead out of any that contained it.
Shellac is put on most breakfast cereal, to keep it crunchy longer in milk, as well as many snack foods/pretzels, chips ect.

I don't know if anyone here has ever used Kramer's Antique Restorer. It's his secret formula and it sells for a hefty price. I've used it and like it for restoring banged up wood such as in the ad that started this thread. Kramer's smells like vinegar. I can't identify the oil, and perhaps there is wax in the solution. It does a nice job. Any way, just a thought here on a product out there that perhaps you can make at home and save $$$.