Cleaning Koefoed Eva rosewood chairs  

Naptha.

A less flammable option than naptha is methyl hydrate with steel wool.

I mean they're both flammable, so...

I think you should any kind of abrasive in the cleaning stage, if you can help it.

Sounds like some pretty strong stuff. Should I oil them after? If so what kind would you suggest?

Thank you

fmc

I guess either methanol or naphtha will work well enough, but, as per my old-school training, I've always used naphtha to semi-saturate an old coarse-weave linen dish towel combined with a good amount of elbow grease for consistently good results as far as first-step general cleaning of wood furniture. You could use #0000 steel wool instead of linen, but it's messier to work with and is probably better for heavily soiled/oxidized finishes as it is slightly more abrasive. Of course, you'll want to remove your upholstered seats first.

Rosewood often just needs burnishing with clean, dry linen to restore luster, but you can go ahead and apply a minimal amount of any appropriate product available at the closest hardware store if the surfaces appear "dry". Ignore marketing bullshit on labels. "Danish Oil" finishing products are all more-or-less the same formula (I use Watco - consistent, widely available, reasonably priced). Just be sure to try your best to rub off as much as you put on before it starts to dry. Remaining coat should be so thin as to be nearly nonexistent. Reapply or paste wax (again, thin coats!) as necessary after at least 24 hours.

Thank you for the direction. I

I find that a teak oil with no added varnish will break down grime pretty quickly, and it's less smelly than solvents.

Ha! Spanky, there's certainly nothing wrong with trying the one-step approach in this case, either. The chairs look in pretty good shape to me and less work for good results always makes perfect sense ...as you so kindly and so often demonstrate!

"Less work!" is the driving force in my life, tktoo.

You are my kind of gal, spanky!

That is, of course, unless you came by your handle as a practitioner rather than a recipient.

HAHA, neither! It was the name of my pet turtle when I signed up on DA (figuring I could blame any questionable posts here on him, I guess...?? I don't really remember now.) He was named after Spanky in the Little Rascals.

Ah, my mistake then. Apologies to all concerned. Especially turtles. And Darla!

(This is where I so miss our dear aunt from down south)

Oh my... is he ... no longer with us?

He said he was going to be traveling for awhile but it's kind of past when he said he'd be back--but he did make a brief appearance a few weeks ago, so who knows. I hope he's ok. Probably just out shopping for the perfect lamp finials and feeding organic celery to Mona Lisa. Fingers crossed.