Take a pew

We have bought 4 oak pews and a pew front to act as a room divider. Apparently these were commisioned in 1850 for St Barnabas Church in Queen Camel and removed some years ago during renovations. Since then they have been stored in a stable. This may be ok for horses and Baby Jesus but it is not good for oak furniture. The pews are very dirty and on inspection we found that they are affected with dry rot and woodworm to a greater or lesser degree. They are quarantined (outside under tarps so it is fortunate that we are having a long, dry spell) until I can clean them up and treat them.

I began with one of the two 8 foot long pews. It is the pew in the best condition.

I am using Woca wood cleaner and am very impressed with the results. The cleaner is diluted in water and applied with a well wrung out (non microfibre) cloth. It is then removed with plain water. This photo shows the difference between a dirty and cleaned area.

Having been cleaned the pew was treated with Wykabor 20, a boron gel, to kill the dry rot and wood worm. After the product had been absorbed there was a powdery grey residue on the surface. I contacted the company who make the product (Wykamol) to ask what this was and how to remove it and I received a reply from the Laboratory Manager the next day. Apparently the residue is a thickening agent, incorporated in to the product for application to vertical / difficult situations and can be removed with a damp cloth.

The pews are VERY heavy. Our friend Richard helped Mark to bring the cleaned and treated pew into the house. I down 4 more to go!

#strawbalewoodlands #strawbalehouse #pew #Wykabor20 #Wocawoodcleaner