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Help with woodcare Repair and upkeep
Nine “tired” pieces of furniture out of ten do not need stripping: a layer of grime, old wax and fine scratches is hiding a finish that is still sound. Furniture Cleaner and Reviver, on every finish — varnish, French polish, lacquer — removes grime, old wax, fine scratches and most white heat or water marks. Then you feed according to the finish: a thin wax on a waxed piece, Citrus Oil on dried-out oiled wood, Burnishing Cream on a lacquer or a friction polish, a thin coat of Hard Wax Oil on a hard wax oil. Two hours, one cloth.
Page updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France woodcare specialists
Before stripping
A piece of furniture that has lost its glow has almost never lost its finish. What you see — the grey, the dullness, the stickiness, the white rings under the cups — is what has settled on top: years of aerosol polish, greasy dust, fingers and damp. Stripping for that means losing a patina twenty years in the making.
The sequence is always the same: clean, feed, buff, judge. Furniture Cleaner and Reviver does the cleaning on every finish; Wax and Polish Remover takes over when wax has built up in layers. Then each finish gets what feeds it: a wax, Citrus Oil, Burnishing Cream or a thin coat of Hard Wax Oil. Only afterwards, in daylight, do you decide whether the old finish has to come off. To identify what is in front of you: recognising the old finish.
The method
Wax, French polish, varnish or lacquer, oil: the feeding move depends on it. Then, always, a trial of Furniture Cleaner and Reviver on a hidden area — the inside of a leg, the underside of a shelf.
On a soft cloth, in small areas, along the grain, turning the cloth as soon as it darkens. It lifts old wax, grime, fine scratches and most white rings. On wax built up in layers, Wax and Polish Remover with 0000 wire wool first, until the cloth comes away clean.
In daylight, the piece has often already come back. What remains — a deep scratch, a black stain, a flaking film — belongs to repair or to stripping, not to this page.
Waxed piece: a thin coat of Wax Antique Brown or Wax Clear on a cloth, matt haze, a second coat possible after 10 minutes. Dried-out oiled wood: Citrus Oil on a cloth, which restores moisture and leaves a low sheen. Hard wax oil: a thin coat of Hard Wax Oil, excess wiped off. Lacquer, melamine lacquer, friction polish: Burnishing Cream, which revives the lustre.
A clean cloth or a horsehair furniture brush, to the sheen you want. On shellac, a dry microfibre cloth only.
Coasters on a French polish, no silicone sprays on a lacquer, no wet cloth on a wax. If the wood is bare in places or the film is flaking, reviving was not the answer: Removing old wax and varnish.
Four pieces
01
Grey, sticky to the touch, dull under the fingers. Wax and Polish Remover with 0000 wire wool for the layers of wax, Furniture Cleaner and Reviver to finish, drying, then a thin coat of Wax Antique Brown buffed along the grain. The colour comes back with the lustre.
02
A sixties teak gone matt, pale and dry. A clean, then Citrus Oil on a cloth: it restores moisture to old oiled finishes, leaves a low sheen and a fresh scent. If the wood drinks a lot, a coat of Wood Finishing Oil afterwards, excess wiped off after 20 minutes.
03
Hot cups and wet glasses have left milky circles in the shellac. Furniture Cleaner and Reviver erases most of them. What remains disappears under a fresh coat of Button Polish with the rubber, which melts into the old: see French polishing with shellac.
04
A lacquer or a friction polish dulled by years of trays and keys. A clean, then Burnishing Cream on a cloth, in small circles then along the grain: very mildly abrasive, it smooths the micro-scratches and lifts the lustre, especially on Melamine Lacquer and friction polish.
Finish by finish
| Finish | Revive with | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Wax | Furniture Cleaner and Reviver; Wax and Polish Remover if the wax has built up | A thin coat of wax, buffed along the grain; once or twice a year |
| French polish, shellac | Furniture Cleaner and Reviver, soft cloth | A fresh coat of polish with the rubber if needed; coasters, dry microfibre |
| Varnish, lacquer (Mylac, Quick Dry Varnish) | Furniture Cleaner and Reviver | Soft cloth and very mild soap; a fresh coat after de-nibbing with 220 if the film is worn |
| Melamine lacquer, friction polish | Furniture Cleaner and Reviver, then Burnishing Cream | Wax Cutting if the returned gloss is too bright |
| Oil, hard wax oil | A clean, then Citrus Oil on an old oil; a thin coat of Hard Wax Oil on a hard wax oil | A maintenance coat as soon as water stops beading |
Furniture Cleaner and Reviver is made for furniture and finished interior surfaces; on a wooden floor it is Floor Cleaner. Always a trial on a small area.
To avoid
Frequently asked
No: it lifts old wax, grime, fine scratches and most white rings, and suits every varnish, French polish and lacquer. It does not replace a stripper. Always test on a small area, since an old piece may have received several finishes.
On shellac, a fresh coat of polish with the rubber melts into the old and erases it. On a varnish or a lacquer, the mark is in the film: de-nib and a fresh coat. The detail, damage by damage: Scratches, white rings and water marks.
Citrus Oil is made to refresh old oiled finishes and dry wood, in a low build and a low sheen. On a waxed piece, you revive with the wax itself, after cleaning; on a hard wax oil, with a thin coat of Hard Wax Oil.
The principle is the same, the products change: Floor Cleaner for the wash, Wax and Polish Remover against old wax, a thin coat of Hard Wax Oil or Mylac to revive. See Caring for a wooden floor.
When the wood is bare in places, when the film flakes or crazes, when the colour has to change. Only then do you take the old finish off and start again: Removing old wax and varnish, then wax or refinish.
See also
“Before you strip, clean: the piece has often kept what you are looking for under what it has been given.”
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