Victorian wood polish

Turpentine and beeswax.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Bees-Wax;-History-and-Origin&id=28068

It's possible, although turpentine has such a strong odor and oily consistency that I think it'd be hard to get in a sneaky fashion...but what an interesting concept.

I think that link has the recipe in it for the polish--you might be able to tinker with that and figure something out.

A lot of antique dealers still use it to polish furniture for their shops. Sometimes when you walk into an antique store, you can catch a whiff of it.

I have to admit though, that the only reason I knew that was because in my youth I was an avid Victoria Holt fan. *shrug* All of her housekeepers are proud of their turpentine and beeswax recipes, and all of her banisters are glistening with it.

I lived in England for three years and got hooked on antiques. My favorite store used a commercial beeswax. I can't remember if it had any other "hardcore" ingredient (decades ago), but it had lavender mixed into it. I'm sure it did not have turpentine in it because it smelled divine! It came in a tin similar to shoe polish, but wider than a shoe polish tin.

The wax was a pain to use because to do it right the rubbing was time consuming and tiring.

yep, it requires a LOT of work to use it as polish. But, if you're talking about dark woods in particular, it really brings out the beauty. lasts longer too.

mscelina said:

yep, it requires a LOT of work to use it as polish. But, if you're talking about dark woods in particular, it really brings out the beauty. lasts longer too.

Click to expand...

After over 20 years, I sold the dresser that I used that polish on. I could still catch whiffs of the lavender!

Linseed oil, turpentine and beeswax
recipe here http://www.bricksandbrass.co.uk/diymats/wood/woodpol.htm

You beat me to the linseed oil, waylander! My sister used that to restore the wood floors in her old house.

My mum is obviously not old enough to be born in Victorian times, but she did tell me a story about a friend of hers, who, while pregnant, developed one of those really wierd cravings for the old-fashioned furniture polish she used to use! She would put a dab on the cloth and take out a fingerfull for herself. Pretty sure it had beeswax, linseed oil and lavender in it.

Mrs. Beeton is on-line! http://www.mrsbeeton.com/41-chapter41.html#2307 (2308, 9, 10 have furniture polish recipes)

This will be a valuable resource for anything about Victorian housekeeping.

wyntermoon said:

You are AWESOME! Thanks! Aaaaaand that could fit in with the plot as well, know of anyone getting turpentine poisoning??

Click to expand...

Turpentine had already been in use for hundreds of years before the Victorians, so they were probably pretty aware of its properties. In other words, it could happen, but the likelihood would be just as great then as it is today.

I'm really annoyed about this. The one thing I know the answer to and when I come in all and sundry have answered!

Not to be out done: It has to be pure turpentine, not the turpentine substitute that tends to be around these days.

Oh, and if you add ash (only used cigarette ash myself) to the linseed oil it will get rid of watermarks on POLISHED furniture. Don't use on bare wood as it will just stain.

There - I've said my piece.

Edit: Just thought, pure turps actually has a more pleasant and less pungent smell than the substitute. Maybe it would be possible to poison somebody with it. Sorry, I don't have any in at the minute so I can't do a smell comparison test.

Good old-fashioned turpentine smells of pine wood.