How to keep your furniture pristine and polished

Dusting off some advice on keeping furniture pristine

Look out for any lifted veneer, marquetry, parquetry or boulle work (inlay) that can get caught and lift.

I believed my grandmother had arrived on Earth, muscling a damp rag in her hands. Polishing is something of a lost art, and yet it remains the central housekeeping challenge, especially once the fires get lit and start belching out smoke, and the Christmas dust has settled.

The furniture and second-fix carpentry in your house could be taken from a wide range of eras. These surfaces will be in a complex mix of finishes. Some will be lacquered or painted, other pieces will be under a tough modern varnish, others will not be actual wood at all, but emblazoned with a picture of wood. Old furniture presents more of a challenge and there are some considerations to make before broadcast sprays of a general furniture cleaner hits shellac, wax or old French Polish. After half a century or more of use, and cleaning — the tops of tables, sideboards and other old dears, are cloaked in multiple mystery substances.