Knotty Pine wall panels

[David Turner]

My daughter and son in law purchased a home (1951 vintage) out in Pittsboro that has some beautiful knotty pine walls. The problem is it is sticky/tacky. Anybody run into this before?
What should they use to clean it?

 

[RobS.]

We own the house next door (1956) which has knotty pine in several rooms. Years ago my wife used Murphy's wood soap (or whatever it's called) and I think it did a good job. You might even try ammonia.
Years ago when I was painting I used paint and varnish remover to strip the old finish from knotty pine on a job, then recoated with polyurethane. When finished it looked like new. It was time consuming but worth it. There were lighter areas where pictures had hung but stripping got rid of that and left a nice even finish.

 

[Tach]

Use a mixture of 2 parts linseed oil to make part mineral spirits. Use fine steel wool to clean the surface. May need to do it twice but it will clean and brighten the wood.

 

[NCPAPOF2]

I would try Murphys Oil soap first. Probably just residue from smokers over the years.

 

[Charles Lent]

The common finish for knotty pine is orange shellac. It is alcohol based, so using alcohol will remove the finish. Make certain that whatever you use to clean it does not contain alcohol. I have a kitchen and family room paneled in knotty pine. I used Murphy's oil soap to clean mine, shortly after moving here. Cabinet and wall finish touch-ups are easy with a can of Zinser Orange Shellac and paint brush. I even remodeled part of my kitchen and had the new wood looking like the old using the Zinser Orange Shellac. When you add a coat, it will soften the original and blend with it, then dry. Just be certain to clean any oils, dirt, etc off of it before adding the new coat. Shellac is not really water resistant, so keep the application of soap and water short and dry it quickly.

Charley

 

[Tach]

A word of caution when using shellac for larger areas. Be sure to check that it is fresh. Old shellac doesn’t cure properly and can be sticky even after it is dry. I worked for a hardware store many years ago and a customer purchased 4 gallons of orange shellac to refinish a whole house full of cabinets, doors, and trim. They waited a couple of days before putting dishes and things away in the cabinets to make sure it was dry. After a day of sitting in the cabinets the dishes stuck to the shellac. Items on the counters were stuck and even some of the doors were sticking to the jambs. The store had to get the manufacturers rep out to the customers house and ended up paying to have the entire finish removed and replaced. If I remember correctly, it was around $5000, all because the shellac had passed the expiration.

 

[Berta]

Murphy’s Oil soap. You might need to wax it afterwards. I always used pledge to wax after. (This was back when such things were common).

 

[Charles Lent]

The Zinser Brand of shellac has something in it to prevent it from spoiling. I doubt that it will last forever with this, but I have had cans of it last me several years and not go bad, but it's best to keep the cans inside zip lock bags, since for some reason the older cans seem to develop leaks when on the shelf. My paint storage cabinet has evidence of a leaky can of Zinser Orange Shellac about 5 years ago.

Before I started buying the Zinser Brand, A can that I bought of another brand had the lid a bit domed up when I bought it. When I attempted to open the can, there was high pressure behind it and it hit the ceiling. The shellac had turned a bit rancid and I returned it to the store the next day. It had a very bad smell too, not at all like fresh shellac. I will now only buy the Zinser Brand because of this. I avoid buying in the larger can sizes too, and will only buy 1 quart at a time now.

Charley