Furniture Polish

• Though they are the handiest polishes they are the most damaging. They damage wooden furniture as they have silicone oils and other contaminants as their ingredients.
• Some sprays damage varnishes and lacquers.

• These are easy to use as well. They are available in two types emulsion polishes and oil type polishes.
• Emulsion polishes are waxes, oils and organic solvents in a water solution so that it can be applied easily on the furniture.
• Emulsion polishes clean extremely well and leaves a nice shine on the wooden surface. But this effect lasts only till the liquid dries.
• Oil polishes come in two types nondrying oils and drying oils. Oil polishes can be used as the final finish.
• Nondrying oils like paraffin, lemon oil and mineral are less harmful than drying oils. Some oils remain on the surface it has been used. As a result dust and other contaminants stick to the wet oil surface.
• Drying oils like linseed oil and walnut oil dry on the wooden surface by oxidation. This is a chemical reaction and over a period of time is difficult to remove.

• These polishes are the best as the damage done to the wooden surface is minimum.
• They are commercially known as "Paste Waxes" and are very stable and do not cause problems like the other type of waxes.
• Furniture conservators and other furniture experts use paste waxes.
• Applying this polish involves a lot of physical labor. Buffing wax is a strenuous job and better the quality of wax, greater the amount of buffing required. The extra effort is worth it as it is beneficial to the furniture.
• As this polish is stable and durable it needs to be applied infrequently. Wax polish areas that are used very often once or twice a year and areas like the legs of tables and chairs, cabinets etc can be polished once in three or four years.
• Wax should not be applied frequently as there will be a build up of wax that will look unattractive on a wooden surface.