Hi, I have two pieces of Globe Wernicke furniture; my grandmother's Secretary desk with bookcase at bottom and I just purchased a 4 stack bookcase, one module being a secretary desk. One of my questions concerns the bands on both items. They are very dark and tarnished but show lighter areas which look like brass. Should I clean these with brass cleaner or leave them alone.

Also on the bookcase; the front of the desk door which drops down is very dark and doesn't show much grain and tends to have a rough feel to the grain. The inside of the door is a glossy tiger grain. It looks like one piece of wood. Is there anything I can do to bring out that grain on the front part. I used very fine steel wool and mineral spirits which helped a little. Should I think about refinishing the front of door?

One more question. At one time someone was painting a room and failed to cover up my grandmother's secretary desk so there are paint specks on the front of the desk door and the top; is there anyway I can get rid of the specks without refinishing it.

Thanks for your help, Gloria

Hello Gloria,
If I am reading correctly your don't want to use denatured on the desk at this time unless you are wanting to strip the whole piece down to bare wood.

There should be enough dirt build up under all that you are looking at and that includes the areas with the paint spots.

Use some Murphy's soap and lather it up well but only clean with the foam and DO NOT allow the wood to get wet at any time.

This job is not an overnight deal as it took many years for the dirt to gather so don't be in a hurry to clean it. If I am right the paint spots will come off as you clean the piece.

It sounds to me that you need some tender loving care to get it back to the original patina and believe me it will be worth it.

As far as the brass goes, first clean it up then see what you have. It should be a golden hue and not a shinny one.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

Thanks Ralph for your help. I have tried to attached a photo of door but it keeps giving me an error. What am I doing wrong. My file is only 87K.
Inside is Tiger wood, two boards, attached to outside straight cut board. Is there a way to get the outside a little nicer looking without stripping it or is this the way a straight cut oak is suppose to look?
Thanks, Gloria

Hello Gloria,
All of our picture using space is full and we cannot upload any on it. However you can sign up for either Photo Bucket of Flickr photo as they are both free. I am using the Flickr myself.
www.flickr.com this will allow you to open a free account. Then once you have the pictures loaded in the program album just pull up a picture you are wanting to display and right click on it. High lite the URL and right click again and click on copy. Then close it and you will be able to post it in the forums.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones