The Village Squire, 1981-09, Page 13To dip or not to dip
Twenty years ago it was not unusual to
see people towing old sewing machines.
phonographs or painted jam cupboards to
the dump. Those of us who committed
such sins still moan over our lack of
foresight. In the past few years. the
enterprise of buying. restoring and selling
antique furniture has become one of the
main pastimes of Southern Ontarions. It
is not only an extremely satisfying and
often exciting hobby. it has developed. in
these difficult economic times, as one of
the most practical of investments.
Whether or not you dip your antiques is a
question that is well worth asking. What
are the alternatives?
To maintain their value, it is important
that antiques be restored with the greatest
possible care. Many people can still
muster the patience to spend hour after
hour carefully stripping and sanding;
others do not have that time and take the
furniture to be dipped. But does the
dipping process hurt your furniture? Most
antique lovers and restorers believe it
does.
To strip your antique in this way it is
completely submerged in a vat filled with
a lye -based chemical. In Tess than an hour
the object is removed and washed off with
water. The chemical loosens the layers of
paint or varnish enough that they can be
easily sanded away. The process saves
innumerable hours of time spent stripping
and sanding completely by hand. But
without exception, the restorers 1 spoke
with are strongly opposed to this
technique.
by Susan Dunlop
Vinzenz Krainz of "Homesteaders
Antiques" in Exeter runs an antique shop
which deals in china, copper, collectors'
plates. wicker, and Canadian and
European furniture. All restoration is
done by hand. "Dipping is the worst thing
you can do to your furniture," says
Krainz, "'because it kills the wood." He is
also critical of the flowover method of
stripping, although he endorses the
method used by "Country Furniture"
restorers.
"Country Furniture" is run on a farm
near Trowbridge. about three miles west
of Listowel. by Harry Jacklin and Jim
Smith. Their unique method combines the
best of the dipping and handstripping
techniques. Inside a small shed the
partners have set up a Targe vat filled
simply with paint and varnish remover.
The antique is completely immersed and
is ready within a few minutes. A varnished
dining room table, for example, is
submerged for about fifteen minutes. A
painted and varnished table takes twenty
to thirty minutes. Total immersion in the
tank loosens the paint and/or varnish
enough that the layers are easily sapded
away by hand. The liquid can work its way
through a paint layer 1 /16 to 1 /8 of an inch
thick; gobs of paint must be removed by
re -immersing the furniture piece again
and again.
One of the biggest complaints about dip
tanks, says Jacklin, is that the caustic
chemical warps the wood and loosens the
glue at the joints. Sometimes the trouble
does not become apparent for many
months. The solution used by Jacklin and
Smith is a cold liquid which cannot hurt
the wood, whereas many dip tanks are
filled with a hot chemical that in itself can
cause damage.
I spoke with a couple of "Country
Furniture's" customers and all agree that
its method produces good results and
saves a great deal of time and money
handstripping and sanding.
A spokesman at "Canadian Furniture
Restorers" in Exeter, is also critical of
dipping antiques. The flowover method
used by these restorers is totally different,
he said, and does not remove the veneer
from your antique as does the caustic
chemicals used in the dip tank.
The antique is placed in a vat and a
chemical - a non -caustic paint and varnish
remover - is hosed through a pump onto it
over and over again. The paint or varnish
remover simply washes off with a nylon
brush. then is neutralized with cold water.
This method takes only ten minutes, does
not warp the wood and your antique will
not need sanding afterward. Dipping, he
agreed. ruins the glue at the joints and
destroys the natural aging process of the
wood.
One of the best indications of how
people feel about dip tanks is the ads that
are placed in newspapers, magazines and
in the Yellow Pages of your phone book.
Listed in each ad are the various
techniques offered: furniture stripping.
refinishing, caning. etc. And standing out
on a line all by itself the message is clear:
NO DIP TANKS.
VILLAGE SQUIRE/SEPTEMBER 1981 PG. 11