Like Carol, I also have no qualms about re-spangling antique bobbins because
I don't believe that many 150+ years old bobbins are still with their original
spangles anyway.
If the spangle is still good and a size that I like I will leave it, but if
it is too large for my taste or has sticky-out bits of wire
, then I redo it. I want to enjoy using my old bobbins and I can't if the
spangles irritate me. As far as possible I keep the right beads with the right
bobbins but spares from the very large spangles are used to bead old bobbins I
bought without a spangle.
As for cleaning, for wood I recently bought some furniture and polish reviver
which I now use for wood. It's liquid, so it could be used with a fine brush
or cotton bud to clean small areas and it works extremely well. I have used
it on a section of a wardrobe door which we got from an old farm where
everyone were heavy smokers. It was filthy but I have been wary as to what
would be
the best thing to clean it with (it's an Edwardian wardrobe, with the original
delivery note to the Duke of Buckinghamshire still pasted to the top). It
took all the dirt off and brought out an amazing gloss and wonderful colours in
the walnut veneer panel. I had tried it at the show on an old bucks thumper I
had just bought from a junk stall, and it had obviously been damp and exposed
for a while as it had that dull look. The polish stuff brought it up a treat
and hasn't left a greasy/oily/waxy residue.
Just after I bought it there was a post on arachne (lace or chat? don't
remember) about a polish made with turps and vinegar and this is basically what
mine is. The ingredients are pure turps, linseed oil, white vinegar and sugar
(in that order), but obviously there's no proportions otherwise we'd all make
our own next time! But at less than GBP4 it's probably not a lot cheaper to
make it as the ingredients are mostly quite pricey. Whoever wrote about it,
may
like to repost.
If your bobbin is bone then a damp cotton bud or a tiny bit of fabric on a
tooth pick or similar and just gently rub the dirt away from the undecorated
areas. If it won't come off with rubbing with damp it probably won't come off
in
use either.
Jacquie in Lincolnshire
To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line:
unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
