Cleaning and Stain Removal - Please help: Urine odor on rosewood furniture

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Helga
06-13-06, 03:20 PM
My elderly mother has beautiful antique rosewood furniture from China and someday (probably soon) it will be mine. The problem is that during this last year, my sister was staying with my mom for about one year and she had a dog who constantly peed in the house. It was only when I recently moved my mom into retirement living that we realized the extent of the damage. It just broke my heart. I cleaned everything with Murphy's Wood Soap of course but her place has a wierd smell now. All her furniture is new now except for the rosewood pieces so I know the smell is from the dog urine. None of the wood looks damaged except on the inside of the large and small buffet cabinets. I think the urine must have collected there or something as it looks stained. I feel sick to death about this.

My question is, What are my options? I've read about getting urine out of hardwood floors, but what about antique rosewood? My mom is used to the smell now and doesn't notice it but I can smell it and it's embarrassing.


twelvepole
06-14-06, 03:54 PM
If rosewood furniture had a surface finish to seal the wood, it is not likely that the urine penetrated the finish, but may have settled behind in cracks and crevices. If rosewood had an oil or wax finish, then reoiling or rewaxing may resolve the problem on the surface. If furniture has lacquer finish, mineral spirits and #0000 steel wool may remove stains and odor. If using #0000 superfine steel wool, rub in direction of wood grain. Since source of odor and damage appears to be inside the cabinets, lightly sanding and resealing the surface finish may be necessary to seal in odors.