{"id":928,"date":"2012-08-16T10:05:58","date_gmt":"2012-08-16T14:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=928"},"modified":"2014-09-03T21:42:57","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T01:42:57","slug":"an-old-wood-steamer-trunk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=928","title":{"rendered":"An Old Wood Steamer Trunk"},"content":{"rendered":"

While at a garage sale (my friend \/ wedding officiant was having, of all places) I found this very sad little steamer trunk. \u00a0Time had not been kind to it and I wasn’t sure if I could do anything to help. \u00a0Since I knew the guy and he gave me a nice price I figured I would give it a shot.<\/p>\n

Here is what I started with.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My previous trunk fixing experience<\/a> involved repairing and cleaning the canvas covering over the wood with saddle soap. \u00a0Here the protective coating wasn’t salvageable. \u00a0It seemed to be paper like but could have been severely dry rotted canvas. \u00a0Over this was a coat of black paint which also covered the hardware. \u00a0The exposed wood cross pieces were just dry and beaten up.<\/p>\n

The inside was, well disgusting. \u00a0It had a layer of think paper covering everything inside. \u00a0It was half coming off. \u00a0And oh, it smelled. \u00a0Awful.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Since I was going to remove all the grossness I wanted to know the right way to refinish the wood underneath. \u00a0There are companies that restore trunks back to there original condition that also give a lot of great advice. \u00a0The first helpful (but sad and yucky) thing I learned was the glue used to adhere the canvas\/paper was made from dead horse parts as glue was back then. \u00a0This means a) it was water\u00a0soluble\u00a0and b) it smelled awful when you got it wet. \u00a0So with a spray bottle full of water and a scraper I went to work.<\/p>\n

Next we had a smell to worry about. \u00a0It was an awful combo of mold and dead horse glue. \u00a0 So it went outside in full sun after being doused with water and vinegar and scrubbed down. \u00a0After a few days \u00a0the smell was gone and it was ready to be finished.<\/p>\n

Through my research I learned that traditionally trunk makers would use Tung Oil to protect and finish the wood. \u00a0The oil soaks into the wood and then hardens to protect the wood from water. In it’s pure form it totally non-toxic. \u00a0The stuff at the home improvement stores usually have some kind of toxic drying agent in them which in theory will evaporate and leave a non-toxic finish. \u00a0But since I am going to be there breathing in the air as it dries I opted for the pure stuff. \u00a0I bought mine here<\/a> at The Real Milk Paint Co.<\/p>\n

Character here is a matter of taste on a piece. \u00a0This thing looked so cool that I wanted to leave the\u00a0black marks on the wood from the hardware. \u00a0 This wasn’t a strict restore job but more of a beautifying treatment.<\/p>\n

So here you are, \u00a0the steamer trunk all finished.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And the inside.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Linked up at:<\/p>\n

Redoux Interiors<\/a><\/p>\n

Miss Mustard Seed<\/a><\/p>\n

My Repurposed Life<\/a><\/p>\n

Home Stories A 2 Z<\/a><\/p>\n

Primitive & Proper<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While at a garage sale (my friend \/ wedding officiant was having, of all places) I found this very sad little steamer trunk. \u00a0Time had not been kind to it and I wasn’t sure if I could do anything to…
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,77,183],"tags":[173,171,174,172],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/casey-after-1774-crop.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1J4KT-eY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":464,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=464","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":0},"title":"The Wardrobe Trunk Restore","date":"February 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"TB and I stumbled across today's little gem at the Restore in Asbury Park. \u00a0Once I laid eyes on this old wardrobe trunk I knew I wanted to bring it home. I had wanted an old truck as a coffee table for years but never could find a cool one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Before & After"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ridiculousredhead-trunk-half.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2464,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2464","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":1},"title":"The Habitat Luncheon Desk After","date":"April 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This past weekend I spent sometime in my garden getting a sunburn (every year I get excited it's sunny and get sunburn on that first day out.)\u00a0 Why? \u00a0Because all my pieces for the Habitat for Humanity Luncheon are done! \u00a0I dropped them all off to the Restore last Wednesday\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Before & After"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/habitat-desk-handles-after-ridiculous-redhead-RR.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2440,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2440","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":2},"title":"The Habitat Luncheon Rocking Chair Before","date":"March 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been hard at work on my pieces for the Habitat for Humanity luncheon and I thought I would share another before with you. \u00a0Today I have for you a rocking chair. This was the second piece I had picked out. \u00a0 I admit it doesn't look like much\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Before & After"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Ridiculous-Redhead-Habitat-Chair-Arm-Before.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":360,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=360","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":3},"title":"How to make your drawers smell nice","date":"January 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"So now that Christmas is over I can show you a few things I made for others without giving away the surprise. Today we will start with these personalized cedar sachets I made as a small gift.\u00a0 These are pretty eco-friendly\/sustainable since everything but the filling was stuff I had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Green Ideas"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/IMG_0463.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":264,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=264","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":4},"title":"I have lost my mind: Painting the House Part 7","date":"November 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the reasons most people love old houses is the beautiful old wood trim detailing. It adds character.\u00a0 It's the jewelry.\u00a0 I am one of those people. The downside of wood trim is that it does not last forever.\u00a0 It's lifespan depends on\u00a0it's care and maintenance.\u00a0 Wood from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Before & After"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/IMG_0286.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1124,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1124","url_meta":{"origin":928,"position":5},"title":"Painting Furniture: Felony or Awesome","date":"March 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Anytime you speak about rehabbing, restoring, rewhatevering of furniture, one argument always come up.\u00a0 There are almost militant members on both sides.\u00a0 It can become a nasty business. And as with so many things online, people will say things, usually rude things, on the internet they wouldn\u2019t ever say in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Furniture"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/RR-logo-square-300-pix.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=928"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":936,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions\/936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}