Do any of you work with antiques?

[jacks'thunder]

I need some advice. I have these 2 tool boxes. One was my great great grandfathers and the other was one my dad had. He is moving and was going to throw them out. I just fell in love with them and my mom said to grab the one that was her granddads forsure.

Now my question is how do I clean them with out ruining the cool age part of them? They stink! Bad!

I'd like to use them for sewing things. Needles, buttons, stuff like that. But with the way it smells and the grime..... yuck!

Any advice? Products, home remedies?

Thanks in advance!

 

[jacks'thunder]

Here is a picture

 

[Riverrose28]

I'm assumoing they are are made of some sort of metal, mix in a spray bottle, one cup of water, one cup of hydrogen perozide, and half a cup of baking soda, remove all the drawers, and spry every thing, let sit over night, then rinse, if needed you could use a rag to wipe off.

If there is any doubt, spry the back first and see if it works.

 

[jacks'thunder]

Nope they are both wood. One has leather wrapping around the outside of the box. Each drawer has green felt like stuff in them( you can see it in the one with the top open, both the dark and light green are felt) and the one box has the felt and some other brown material on top of that.

Do you think that will work on wood???

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Try an air compressor and a paint brush to get the interior grime loose, especially with the felt. Watch the pressure until you see how the felt holds up.

You can scrub the wood with a soaped rag and brush. After cleaning, I use 0000 steel wool and an oil to clean the wood. Buff with a rag as you go. May have to go over it more than once.

My favorite combination for cleaning/polishing wood is Watco danish oil used with Skidmore's beeswax with a 0000 pad.

I recently got an old tool box that belonged to my grandpa. It is the large, trunk-style. 80+ years of shop grime! It came out really nice and I have it in my living room now.

I found his signature inside while cleaning--no one had known it was there.

Murphy's oil soap is another product to use on wood. I LOVE cleaning up old stuff; so satisfying. Good luck with your treasure!

 

[shorthorsemom]

be careful how much you clean old stuff, sometimes the old patina is worth more than the cleaned restored product. I love murphys oil soap for some of my old wood stuff, smells good too. I love old boxes like that. Don't strip off any paper labels if you find any on them. I wouldn't use the soap on the felt. Gorgeous. if they came up at local auction I would probably bid on them. Love those old boxes with the little knobs on the drawers. I don't shine the knobs, love the original patina. Might even be brass.

 

[jacks'thunder]

Thank you both! I'm pretty sure I have Murphys oil soap!

If not I'll pick some up.

Shorthorsemom, I'm with ya! I LOVE boxes! Expecially old boxes!! I know I would bid on them too and probably do exactly what I'm doing with them now! I think you and I would have a biding war!!! lol! I love all the little drawers and knobs, that's what made me think sewing! lol!

Marsha, I'd love to see a picture of your box!!! Thats what I'm not sure what to do about, all that shop grime. If I could see how yours turned out I could judge how far I'd like to take it down.

 

[Jill]

I don't work with any, but could think of so many uses for what you are showing!!! H and I both love antiques, particularly "tiger wood" oak. Lots of that in our house, from what we got from my parents and what we have acquired on our on. For sure in love with vintage pieces!!! Character -- love it!!!

 

[Debby - LB]

Wow lucky you! those are great pieces, collectors drool over those. Even though you refer to them as being used as tackle boxes these look like machinist tool boxes to me, these antique boxes are very valuable.

Like the others said be very careful cleaning them. When you get them cleaned up you will have a beautiful display for your sewing stuff that's for sure.

 

[shorthorsemom]

There are several on ebay for sale. You can check out the old finishes there to see what they look like cleaned up. . Search machinist tool and antique or vintage as search phrases. You might call a local antique dealer for cleaning ideas different from Murphy's. I am a weenie chicken bidder..you would win. Haha. My husband does the important bidding in this family. Love auctions. We never buy anything new here.

 

[jacks'thunder]

Wow! Thanks everyone! I really feel like I found a treasure! I just checked out Ebay and there are a few similar to mine! Cheese and rice! They want a small fortune for them! Lol! I'm goint to take the time this evening and really do some research. My mom said she thinks thay both came from her family. She thinks one was her uncle toms(who was like a brother to her) and one was her grandpas. How cool! I have a neat part of my history that my dad was going to trash. I'm glad I got them!

 

[shorthorsemom]

Never throw anything out or sell it cheap without some research. I had a boss once that was cleaning out the attic of his parents house and came across tons of boxes of those old flash bulb things that go on those obsolete film projectors (I think I got the story right, might have to imagine a little) bottom line was that he put them on bulk on ebay and they were worth a TON of money, absolutely thousands and thousands of dollars. They were astonished. All they said was, holy cow, i almost threw that out. U just never know. There are folks out there like me that love to come across boxes like that. They do quite well at auction too. You have found a nice treasure and its great they have a personal story too. I treasure antiques.

 

[Miniv]

Yes you DO have a couple of treasures.....And I agree to be very careful with the original paint or stain on them. That adds to their value....as does any labels. LUCKY YOU!

 

[MindyLee]

On the antique roadshow... they say never clean them yourselves! Have a pro do it so not to do more harm then good!

Otherwise their neat!!!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I took a couple of pictures of my tool box. I've refinished several old pieces over the years. The 0000 steel wool with Watco and the Skidmores wax have always done a beautiful job for me. Once in a while I use a little paint thinner for things like grease. The air compressor with a paint brush should clean up your felt interior well. Just watch the pressure and do a little at a time. If any pieces come off, save them and you can reglue them. If you don't have an air compressor, you could use a hair dryer with no heat.

My tool box was filthy inside and out. Not only had it been a working tool box, but then it was shoved into the back of the shop for 50 years and neglected. The lock on it is very interesting. We had to take it to a lock smith to find out how it worked. He said he had seen railroad locks similar.

The top is scarred, but to me that adds to its charm. My mom and aunts all played on top of it as children. It has the original shelves inside and a custom fitted level on one compartment. There weren't many old tools left in it when I got it, but I cleaned them all up and left them inside. I copied out the stories my aunts and mom remembered about it and put them in it, along with my grandpa's graduation certificate from his training school. If you find out any history about your boxes, it's a good idea to write them down and put them with the box.

www.cassphoto.com/tooltrunk1.jpg

And here is a picture of it in the room. Please note my blooming orchids, if you please!! I received the orchid for mother's day in 2007 and it is blooming again. Pretty exciting. The birdhouse was made by my uncle.

www.cassphoto.com/toolbox2.jpg

 

[Boss Mare]

Very cool! Love them.

 

[REO]

They are fabulous! I LOVE them! You have to be careful with something that old & porous. Do research first. Then practice on the younger of the two to try it out. The Very old one is priceless!

WOW!!

 

[jacks'thunder]

Marsha your room is beautiful! The tool box is pretty fabulous, you did such a nice job! And I LOVE your bird house!!!! (And your Orchid make me alittle green

I can't grow house plants for anything, I can do out side plants no problem.) I have a Hoosier Kitchen( I think that's what it's called??) that my mom refinished with steel wool and paint thinner. It's beautiful!

Well I think I'm just going to get the spiders and their eggs out of the locks, oil the bajabies out of them, blow out the insides with the air hose and a brush and just leave them alone. I did ask my mom to write down some info on her grandpa and uncle tom. I'll put it in the boxs somewhere so when my son gets these he'll have all the info I can find. She said she thinks she got the one (that my dad abused) when uncle Tom passed away, and the other that was her grandpas way before that. I also have boxes of old match books and match book covers that were uncle Toms. When my mom was moving out she had no Idea what to do with them. I told her I'd take them and put them in my attic. Any Ideas on what to do with those? lol!!!

Thank you all for your kind words and helpful comments

 

[Debby - LB]

Wow Marsha your boxes turned out beautiful. Your orchid is beautiful too I wish I could grow those. Love your style! your home is gorgeous, really like the southwest look of your chair/sofa there accenting the leather, very pretty.

 

[JustJuls]

I have tons of wooden antiques, never thought to use the 0000 steel wool and oil on them.I will have to give it a try. Where would one get the Watco Danish oil and the Skidmoor's beeswx?