Restoring a timber dresser without losing its character

An old timber dresser is one of the most rewarding pieces to bring back to life. Many New Zealand homes have one tucked in a spare room or garage: a rimu duchesse from a grandparent's bedroom, a kauri chest of drawers from a villa sale, or a plain painted pine dresser with good bones. The temptation is to strip it and start again. In our experience researching restorations, the better results usually come from doing less, in the right order.

Start with an honest assessment

Before you reach for sandpaper, spend half an hour looking closely. Take the drawers out, turn the piece around, and photograph everything, including the back and underside.

Work through these questions:

• What timber is it? Rimu has a warm reddish-brown heartwood, often with attractive figure, and was once New Zealand's most harvested timber and a staple of furniture making. Kauri is paler and golden, and its light colour made it a common choice for everyday furniture as well as finer pieces. Matai, tōtara and imported oak and mahogany also turn up, and many later pieces are radiata pine or have a veneer over a cheaper core.
• Is it veneered or solid? Look at the edges of the top and drawer fronts. A thin layer with a different grain at the edge means veneer, which limits how much sanding the piece can take.
• What is the finish? Older pieces were often French polished with shellac. Mid-century furniture may have a lacquer or varnish. Some pieces have been painted over at some point.
• Is it structurally sound? Rock it gently. Check for loose joints, split panels, drawer runners worn into grooves, and missing mouldings.

If the piece has been painted and dates from before the 1980s, presume the paint may contain lead and do not dry-sand or heat-strip it. Test it first, or have it stripped chemically by someone set up to handle the waste.

Borer: look before you buy

Old furniture made from untreated timber is a favourite of the common house borer. Its larvae tunnel through the wood for several years before the adult beetles chew their way out, leaving round flight holes about 1 to 1.5 mm across. The sapwood of older timbers is most at risk, so check the backs, drawer bottoms and the undersides of tops, which are often made from lower-grade timber. A few old holes are common and are usually a sign of past activity. Fresh, clean-edged holes or small piles of fine powdery dust below them suggest the infestation is active, and the piece should be treated, and kept away from your other timber furniture, before any restoration starts. This guide to borer in old furniture covers how a treated piece can be kept rather than thrown out.

Clean before you decide anything

A surprising number of "ruined" finishes are simply dirty. Decades of wax, polish build-up, smoke and grime sit on top of the original finish and make it look dark and dull.

Start with a soft cloth dampened with mild soapy water, wrung out well, and work a small area at a time, drying as you go. For heavier build-up, mineral turpentine on a cloth or fine synthetic pad lifts old wax without harming most finishes. Always test on the back or inside a drawer first.

Once clean, many dressers look far better than expected. That is the moment to decide between reviving and stripping.

A surprising number of ruined finishes are simply dirty.

Repair the structure first

Fix joints before any finishing work, because clamping and gluing can mark a new finish.

• Loose joints: Older furniture was usually assembled with animal hide glue, which can be softened with gentle heat and moisture and re-glued with the same type of glue. Clean out old glue before re-gluing so the new glue bonds to timber, not to residue. Avoid filling loose joints with modern expanding adhesives, which make future repairs much harder.
• Drawer runners: Worn runners make drawers drop and stick. A thin strip of matching timber glued to the worn edge, then planed true, restores smooth running. A rub of candle wax on the runners helps too.
• Splits and lifting veneer: Small splits in solid panels are often caused by the timber shrinking against a fixed frame. Lifting veneer can usually be re-laid with glue and gentle, even clamping pressure using a block and a sheet of baking paper.

Revive or strip?

Reviving

If the original finish is intact but dull or lightly marked, reviving it keeps the patina that took decades to develop. Shellac finishes can often be refreshed by cleaning, then applying a few thin coats of fresh shellac with a pad. Light scratches can be disguised with a wax filler stick or a tinted wax. Water rings in shellac sometimes fade with time and gentle warmth, though deeper damage may need local repair.

Stripping

Strip only when the finish is failing badly, has been overpainted, or has been damaged beyond repair. Use a chemical or gel stripper suited to the coating, in a well-ventilated space with gloves and eye protection, and lift the softened finish with a plastic scraper and fine synthetic pads. Neutralise and clean the surface as the product directs. Never use a heat gun on a piece that might have lead paint on it.

Sanding with restraint

Once the surface is bare, or ready for a refresh, sand by hand along the grain. Start no coarser than around 120 grit on solid timber and work up through 180 to 240. On veneer, start finer and go gently, because it is easy to sand through to the core. Avoid power sanders on edges and mouldings, and stop as soon as the surface is even. Wipe away dust with a damp cloth and let it dry before finishing.

Choosing a finish

• Shellac: The traditional choice for antique and early New Zealand furniture. It gives warmth and depth, dries fast, and is easy to repair later. It is softer than modern finishes and can mark with water, heat and alcohol.
• Hard-wax oil or penetrating oil: Brings out the grain with a low sheen and is easy to maintain. Some oils darken rimu noticeably, so test on the back. Dispose of oily rags safely by laying them flat outdoors to dry, because they can self-heat.
• Wax over shellac: A thin coat of furniture wax over shellac adds a soft lustre and a little protection.
• Water-based clear coat: The most durable option for a dresser that will take daily knocks, though it can look flatter than traditional finishes.

For museum objects, Te Papa's guide to caring for wooden objects advises against applying oils and recommends steady temperature and humidity and protection from light. For a genuinely old or significant piece, that is a good reason to favour reviving the original finish over replacing it.

Hardware

Remove handles, keyholes and escutcheons before finishing, and bag and label them by drawer. Clean brass gently with a mild cleaner, and decide whether you want it bright or keep some of its age. If pieces are missing, matching reproductions are widely available, but keep any originals you do have. Replacing all the hardware with modern handles can change a dresser's character more than any finish.

Live with it

Put the dresser away from direct sun and heaters, which fade and dry timber unevenly. Rotate objects on the top so they do not leave pale marks, use mats under anything wet, and dust with a soft cloth rather than spray polish. Restored slowly and finished sympathetically, a good timber dresser will happily outlast the next generation too.