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What’s the Best Way
to Care for Your Antiques?

Every piece of antique furniture requires special treatment to maximize its value, appearance and usability. Here are some basic guidelines to antique care.

Whether it’s been in your family for generations, or it’s a discovery you just found at an estate sale, an antique has special appeal and charm. However, antiques also have special care requirements. Depending on the antique – and its intended use – those requirements will be very different. In some cases, the wrong treatment can damage an heirloom, or harm the resale value of an investment – quality piece. So before you do anything to your antiques (beyond giving them a good dusting with a dry cloth), consult a trained furniture care professional. He or she will make an expert evaluation of the piece to inform you of all the options available, and help you choose which alternative is best suited to your antiques.

 Rule #1: If it’s an investment, be very careful!
If you have an antique that is in original condition, and are thinking of selling it or keeping it as an investment, the rule of thumb is simple: Don’t do anything to it. No matter how rough their conditions may be, investment-grade antiques are prized more for their originality than for their appearance. Cleaning, waxing, coating, or even oiling an antique (especially if done with modern materials), will seriously reduce an antique’s market value. In fact, a completely original antique that is severely damaged, or even in pieces, can be worth far more than a similar piece that has been expertly refinished. That’s why most furniture care professionals will choose not to refinish or refurbish original condition antiques – or they will refer the owner to a professional who specializes exclusively in antique furniture restoration.

Keeping antiques alive, vitalized and beautiful.
Most people who own antiques, however, plan on keeping – and living with – their furniture. In these cases, doing nothing is the worst course of action to take. Left untreated, an antique’s wood will split and swell, its finish will stain and dull, coatings will crack and peel, joints will loosen, and the piece will continue to deteriorate, until it becomes unusable and literally falls apart.

So in order to preserve the furniture, and the history it represents, it is critical that antiques should be carefully and regularly maintained. As furniture care professionals, we have a range of specialized treatments we can apply to the furniture that will revitalize the wood and enhance the finish. But before we go to work, we first ask an important question: is the antique a rarely used showpiece, or will it be used on an everyday basis? In either case, great care must be taken to choose materials and methods that are totally compatible with the antique, to ensure no damage is done to a delicate (and often irreplaceable) piece.

 For those with showpieces, we can use the same old-fashioned oils, waxes, and other materials that were applied when the antique was brand-new – to keep their furniture as authentic as possible. Others, who use their antiques on a daily basis, may prefer the latest treatment technologies. These newer waxes, oils and coatings provide far greater resistance against wear and tear, to provide the antique with maximum long-term protection. As one furniture care professional points, out, when antiques were made, their builders used the most durable finished available to them. If modern coatings and finishes had been available to them, they would have almost certainly used these materials to protect the beauty and craftsmanship of their work.

 Refurbishing: Eliminating neglect while preserving the finish.
Sometimes, preserving an antique requires more than careful maintenance. The best way to minimize damage caused by years of use, misuse, or even neglect is by refurbishing an antique. Unlike refinishing, refurbishing leaves the original finish intact, thus maintaining an antique’s patina and value. And the cost of a thorough refurbishment can be as little as one-tenth the cost of a specialized antique restoration.

The first stage in a professional refurbishment is to clean away decades of built-up waxes and grime. Then, any serious damages to the structure or finish are carefully repaired. Many furniture care professionals are experts at touching up and repairing these flaws so that they are virtually indistinguishable from the existing finish. In many cases, missing pieces and hardware can be replaced with quality reproductions.

An antique refurbishment is not intended to totally erase every trace of age or wear. After all, it is these characteristics that give antiques their personality and appeal. Therefore, a skillful refurbishment will preserve the character that comes with years of use – while eliminating the signs of neglect.

It is a task that requires a great deal of specialized knowledge, materials and experience. But the result is well worth it. A skillful and sensitive refurbishment results in an antique that is both beautiful and functional – one that retains its sentimental value and market value. Best of all, proper antique care means that future generations will be able to get the same use and enjoyment that you have gotten out of your antiques.