captbirdseye (700) 2018-11-01 17:56

Some time in the near future, I hope to acquire a vintage Shogi board - about 70 years old, approximately 6-sun thick, standing on four legs.

The pictures show some dints and bangs, as might be expected in something this old. No problem!

However, in some places, the wood appears to be quite badly stained/dirty. I suspect that the worst of this staining is actually mildew - it is on the end-grain of the wood and nothing I have looked at so far deals with cleaning up the end-grain...

Is there any way of cleaning up such stains/dirt without destroying the 'patina' which goes with such an aged piece? Clearly, some staining/dirt is to be expected, but in some places, it looks excessive.

I have thought of using high-quality oil-based polish very gently on the stained/dirty areas to try and remove the stains/lift the dirt. I don't want to use any solvent-based or abrasive products.

Any ideas?

I do know a man who wrote one of the standard museum conservation texts, and I will be asking him the same question tonight...

Any advice welcome.

Thank you.

Roger