Thank you all - cogar, wull, ghopper, wendy, mart, & KC - for your replies & encouragement.
It is indeed a gorgeous bed - thanks, g-hop
. The beauty of the wood even shines through its present layer of grime. And I love that it’s a sleigh bed, but without any real overhang to “prow” or “stern” - my apartment is too small to give up much floor space to pure ornamentation.
I’d thought early 20th C, too. It has only a few touches of the “whiplash” curvilinearity characteristic of Art Nouveau, and the cleanliness and not-quite-severity of the lines put me in mind of Art Deco - is there such a thing as post-Nouveau/pre-Deco?
(Along those lines, does anyone know or have suggestions on how to find out when LC & WL Cron *stopped* making furniture under that name? I’ve found info on their 1868 start-up, & on some very Victorian stuff from 1898, but nothing beyond 1900 so far.)
My general plan is to first rinse off the dust & loose dirt with water & mild soap, followed immediately by a wipe-down with rubbing alcohol and then with a clean-&-feed wood conditioner (Method “Wood For Good” until the bottle runs out, & then Weiman’s Lemon Oil).
To be clear, the only veneer I am removing is the stuff that is truly done for and half-gone already, as in the photo below. I’m also saving the larger pieces in case I get truly brave and want to try using it to patch some of the better veneer.
Then I’ll move onto repairs, which will mostly be reattaching many smallish areas of loose/blistered/ruffled/cracked veneer.
The idea of “ironing my bed” seems weird as heck, but at the same time absolutely logical. The moist-to-damp towel “steam treatment” sounds like a good way to go - thanks, cogar!
I was reading somewhere on the web (so it *must* be a good idea
) about people using waxed paper in between the veneer and an ironing cloth/towel with a warm iron - has anyone here tried this?
(KC, I’m guessing whoever scorched the wood must have had the iron on pretty hot, like a “cotton” or “linen” setting? I wouldn’t think wood would scorch at the lower end of the “steam” range, or am I wrong?)
I love the idea of a “furniture syringe” - I have some cat-sized syringes leftover from old feline-veterinary adventures that may be just about right. Has anyone tired to get old glue and/or gunk out from under detached veneer, or it it best just to let it lie?
Thanks again to everyone
- Evelyn