Desperate housekeeping

Once, no cleaning cupboard was complete without a tin of furniture polish. But like the peasant blouse that took you everywhere last summer, it is just not the thing to be seen with any more. The problem is that many aerosol cleaners contain silicone, which, over time, can leave a residue that dulls the wood. Used too liberally they soften underlying wax, giving surfaces a white bloom that nothing, short of stripping the finish entirely, will remove.

So when it comes to polishing, less is more. For your precious antique pieces, treating them with solid beeswax is best, a task that needs to be done, say the specialist cleaners employed by the National Trust, only once or twice a year.

Dust and clean first, apply wax sparingly, leave to dry, and then — the hard bit — buff vigorously to work up a shine. In intervening months, just keep on dusting. There is no point in applying wax on lacquered wood: the lacquer is meant to stop the wax from penetrating. Best is to wipe with a duster sprayed with water from a mister. Dry with a second cloth and buff with a third. Damp dusting is just as effective with painted, stained and veneered woods.