- Restoring Wood Grain Paneling

Is your wood grain paneling getting a little tired looking? I'll explain how you can clean and brighten it up.

Natural wood paneling exposed to the sun's ultra violet rays beaming through unprotected windows over time will draw the natural oils and colour from the wood fibres leaving your wood paneling faded and tired looking. Using tinted paste wax of a carnauba based variety will return the wood's lustre and richness. Carnauba paste wax comes in a variety of colours from dark brown to natural including shades of rich red mahogany and teak. Before applying any wax finish you must wash the paneling with a tri-sodi-um phosphate wash. Rinse well with clear water and allow to dry. Apply the carnauba paste wax with super fine steel wool, rubbing with the grain from top to bottom doing half a panel at a time. Wait one minute and buff with a soft flannel cloth. It's that easy!

Tri-sodium phosphate wash:
1 tablespoon of tri-sodium phosphate in 1 quart warm water rinse with clean water.

Article courtesy of: Shell Busey