How to clean a Saarinen tulip table and chairs
Mid Mod Pam on Sep 24 2008 at 8:00 am | Filed under: FAQs, furniture
Remember San Francisco Troy from this post about his vintage airline bag collection…his house plants…and his Drexel Declaration? He’s back - with tulip table talk…and Troy, you now earn your own Tag 
Ooh, two smileys in one post. Perky enough for you?
Hi Pam! Still hooked on your site - keeps getting better and better!
Your kitchen is legendary. You’ve incorporated a bit of everything amazing from the 40s thru the 60s. Big fan! I especially dig your choice of a Saarinen tulip set which I find refreshingly unexpected. I’ve always wanted a set of my own. Until…
I picked up a set of vintage Knoll tulip chairs in an estate sale - single owner, original sales receipt even! Score! They are in great condition but are in dire need of a good cleaning. Can you or any of your readers advise how best to bring these beauties back to life? I’ll attack them with soap and water, but beyond that??? The “Retro Renovation” furniture edition.
You’ve *almost* convinced me to move to Des Moines what with all your amazing time capsule features.
Later -troysf
So…I prompt Troy for the story, of course! —>
I found the set on craigslist here in the bay area. great story… the woman selling the set invited me up to a house in mill valley north of sf to see the set last saturday. she and her husband were having a house sale - seems a good friend of theirs had just passed away. she was 92 years old, never married, and had lived in the house for about 50 years. she was very attached to this set so we’re all very glad it’s going to a good home. the seller even has the original receipt!
i’m attaching a picture of the set as well as a detail photo of a chair without the cushion. you’ll see in the photo just how yellowed and grimy the chair back is when compared with the white strip where the cushion met the back. million dollar questions is if and how i can return the chairs to their original bright white color.
thanks! -troy
I emailed the folks at Knoll and they must get this question a lot - because they got back to me with an answer quick as a flash. Thank you, Mark!!! Meanwhile, Troy says he will try this - and report back. Cleaning protocol - for what I believe is vintage fiberglass - will someone correct me if I am wrong? I need to do a bunch of research - and posts - on surfaces and how to care for them:
Pam,
Clean with Windex, Fantastik, or other ordinary non-abrasive household soaps, detergents. For ink stains on white surfaces, use Soft Scrub. For scratches and chips, rub with Comet, Ajax, or other mild abrasives. For deeper scratches, use a good grade automotive acrylic-lacquer touch-up paint. Shine with a high grade auto polish. Never use harsh abrasives or steel wool.
For the swivel mechanism:
Apply a paste-type grease to swivel mechanism once a year.Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any additional questions.
Best regards,
-Mark, Knoll Studio
Simichrome is the best plastic polish out there. It is a super fine abrasive. Yes it is sold as a metal polish, and it is indeed very good at that. I used it to buff a nasty scratch on the front of my Ipod. You can not tell it ever got scratched. I would try Simichrome before I tried any kind of abrasive cleaner. Of course I would see how Windex cleaned it up first.
Amazon carries it.
http://www.amazon.com/Cleaner-Simichrome-Polish-Gram-1-76/dp/B0006ZN9TS
Troy, I think Knoll’s advice is good, but one method I have found always works is to simply mix plain white vinegar with baking soda. A chemical reaction instantly occurs, so you need to work quickly to get the cleaning benefit. Gently rub the fiberglass with this mixture and you should get very good results if those other methods don’t work. It’s at least worth a try. If you ever need to clean porcelain, vinegar and baking soda is also very effective.
If I may toss in my two-cents-worth:
Formula 409.
I love this stuff for removing old grime, especially nicotine stains. I’ve used it on nicotine laden fiberglass lampshades with amazing results.
Wet the chair with plain water. Then spray it thoroughly with Formula 409. Let it sit for a minute or so, but not long enough to dry out. Scrub the whole thing GENTLY with a stiff short-bristle brush (preferrably natural bristles), then rinse it off with running water. Be sure to dry the metal parts thoroughly afterward and perhaps apply a very thin coat of machine oil or gun oil to them by hand to prevent future rust.
I also like Kayleen’s Simichrome idea, though I would be very careful not to damage the surface of the plastic.
Thanks, everyone, for your input. I can see I need to do more research and make more opportunities for everyone to talk about cleaning…
Palm Springs Stephan - I direct this question at you, because I bet you will know the proper answer. But, it is my understanding, that the issue/concern regarding the cleaning of materials like fiberglass and other hard plastics (?) - is that they are made of polymers. Polymer Chains… Poly-mers… Many little mers. If you ‘break’ the chain, the integrity of the finish is lost and then it becomes very difficult to keep clean, loses its gloss forever, etc. So - be very careful about using abrasives and harsh chemicals. Correct?
I’ll back up Stephan’s two-cents. 409 is a miracle worker on yellowed, tired plastics. and fiberglass. Another cleaning question for Pam (or anyone)…I don’t know what is safe to use on the Geneva metal cabinets that won’t eat at the finish. Additionally, I plan to try Pam’s “car wax and buff” approach, and would like to know what the cleaning routine should be after one waxes and buffs (I would assume chemicals woud deteriorate the wax?) Thanks. Pam - the site is looking great and is so hepful!
Yes, Pam, many plastics are made up of polymers, especially such plastics as nylon, PVC, styrofoam, and even Bakelite. “Fiberglass” is often used within materials made of polymers to provide additional strength, though the glass fibers themselves are not polymers.
Polymers are little more than a very long string of identical molecules held together by covalent bonds (more about that in a mo’). Actually DNA and proteins are polymers, though not plastics, because they consist of identical molecules repeated over and over in a long chain. “Polymer” is a huge category.
The real issue is the covalent bonding between the molecules. Covalent bonds are called “strong” bonds (as are ionic bonds … hydrogen bonds are “weak” bonds), but they are not invincible. Covalent bonds are relatively easily broken by a wide variety of things ranging from ultra-violet light to heat to chemicals. That’s why humans are susceptible to cancers and other diseases: the covalent bonds in our DNA polymers can easily be broken by sunlight (skin cancer), chemicals (lung cancer), and radiation (leukemia).
So yes, one should be careful about using harsh chemicals on polymer plastics. Many chemicals can and will break the polymer bonds that give the plastic its integrity. And once broken, those bonds cannot be put back together without re-manufacturing. Not only will the item lose its surface finish, but it may also cause cracks, permanent discoloration, and general decay of the entire product. And the really troubling thing is that the decay will not be instantaneous. It’s not as though you can do a “test spot” and stop if you see damage. Instead, like cancers in humans, it can take a long time after the exposure for the damage to appear.
So use caution when cleaning with chemicals and abrasives! If the item has real financial value, clean it only with mild soap and water, or seek the advise of a professional conservator.
Hi Sleepingbee Alice. Just to reiterate: Very fine auto body compound, rubbed with a soft rag. Don’t rub too hard, be careful! We then followed with Turtle Wax, and actually used a buffer with a soft soft cover.
I’ll tell you, the kitchen has been in place for two years, and I haven’t had to do anything since. I just clean up fingerprints with a damp cloth … then dry right away.
All that said - other readers may have better solutions. I am kind of…an indifferent cleaner. I only do it because I like how it looks after it’s done!