Spinning a Yarn - Wood Restoration

Whilst gazing at the loom today I looked over the scarred and aged wood, water marks, general signs of ageing, scratches and the like!

Due to the age and rarity of my loom I decided I wanted to keep in line with the original colours and finish. To restore the natural wood grain to it's original state, if not better.

Although, I've never seen a funky purple loom with a glitter speckled beater... any takers?

I stripped back the wood using 3 grades of sandpaper.

I started with the coarser P60, transitioned to gritty one-fitty (P150) and finished with the slightly less coarse P240 grade.

Hubby offered to help with the sanding. I was content happily working away solo though & found it almost therapeutic.

I went over a few bits I wasn't satisfied with until they were to my liking, then I used my trusty hairdryer to blow the wood dust away. I went over the wood with a clean towel cloth just incase.

So what did I use for the stain you ask?

The darker coloured parts were easy! I had some left over Merbau stain at home, so I kind of cheated!

I used an old, yet still soft paint brush to coat the darker panel of the beater & the shafts, being cautious not to discolour any of the white strings.

But what was I going to use for the lighter parts? I wanted to maintain a warm honey colour.

And as you may have already gathered, I'm Little Miss Impatient!

What did I have lying around the house that I could use? Coconut oil was my trusty favourite & I'd heard of olive oil and olive oil + lemon.

I had a broken piece of my loom which I need to replace anyway, so I thought to myself "Por que no los tres?" (Why not try all three?!).

I went to my cupboard and to my dismay, we were out of olive oil! My husband practically drinks the stuff.

What we did have was canola oil! So I thought I'd give it a go.

I sanded the broken piece of timer back, just as I had with the rest of the loom. We want consistency here!

And I preformed my patch test. Plain canola oil, canola oil mixed with lemon & coconut oil.

I let each patch sit for around 3 minutes and proceeded to wipe them with a clean cloth.

I remembered how difficult coconut oil could be to work with, in large areas so I decided to veeto it (that said, absolutely fantastic on wood embellishments such as the end of my marble chopping board).

From the look and feel, i preferred the canola oil with lemon concoction. The residue was less greasy and the sheen was irresistible. I whipped up another batch - 4 tablespoons of canola oil & the juice from half a lemon.

I then used my hands to slather & massage it into the wood of the loom. I'm sure you could use a cloth, but now i feel like I know my loom very intimately! (haha)

After I had covered the wooden pieces of the loom in their entirety I wiped them down with my trusty cloth.

It came up a treat! It doesn't feel sticky or oily at all, which is what you want when yarns will eventually be used on this thing!

I was also careful not to sand or oil the "teeth" as they are rather fragile and I'd hate to break/splinter them or get them too greasy to use!

I then sanded an erroneous drip mark off the dark beam of the beater & did a second coat

In hind site, I would've worn a long sleeve top, my arm became a casualty to staining. I also would have untied my treadles, I did stain the bottom of the string, but it's nothing that'll effect the use of the loom.

I left the rear beam until last as there was some stow away yarn still attached. I cut it off, stripped back the wood and polished it as before.. Check out that beautiful honey glow!

The wood feels smooth & truly beautiful under hand & restoring it myself is proving to be truly rewarding.

It removed most, not ALL, of the water marks however there is still some colour variation. I'm very happy with it though as it adds character to the wood grain. Even hubby stated "it looks great. Like new!"

I love how transformed the loom looks, from something that resembled old, ravaged timber in a wood shop, to something that could easily sit in an antique show room. Or at least I like to think so.

Have you tried your hand at restoration? Have you had either fails or triumphs? Are you intending to restore a loom anytime soon? I love your comments! Tell me about it below!