Alex,
   I worked for a few years recently with furniture restoration and
preservation.
   I would recommend you use a paste wax to bring up the finish, rather than
any kind of polish. A good one to use is Minwax Paste Finishing Wax. You can
get it from woodworking suppliers or some hardware stores. The ServiceStars
in Washington used to have it. You apply it very sparingly with a soft cloth
and buff it down with a clean cloth to a very thin film. Once there is a
film of wax on the furniture, there should be no need to reapply it anytime
soon, not for months or even years in a museum setting where the environment
is controlled and the furniture is not being used. Applying more wax will
cause it to build up and become smeary. Just re-buff it with a clean cloth
when necessary and keep it dusted with a dry feather duster.
    Furniture polishes are made of oily solvents that evaporate. Once the
solvent has evaporated, you lose the polished shine.
    Good Luck,
    John Spurlock

----------
>From: ALEX MCKEE <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: polishing
>Date: Mon, Jan 7, 1980, 5:23 PM
>

> Regarding the
> furniture polishing, I wondered what the most current recommendations
> might be...what to use and how often to polish.

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).