Using Christophe Pourny Furniture Tonic
With a little patience and elbow grease, one can easily revitalize timeworn wooden furniture.
Antiques restorer, conservator, author, and entrepreneur, Christophe Pourny, is my favorite go-to source for furniture care. His line of natural tonics, serums, and soaps make it possible to clean, restore, and polish nearly every surface and piece of wooden furniture in the home. Yesterday, I noticed my kitchen cabinets needed some attention - they were looking slightly dull and small nicks and scratches were noticeable along drawer edges. I wiped each one down with a damp cloth, dried them thoroughly, and applied a coat of Christophe's Furniture Tonic. In just a few hours, all my kitchen cabinets shined like new.
Enjoy these photos.
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- I’ve been using Christophe Pourny’s furniture care products for many years. They were inspired by the same products he uses in his own furniture restoration studio in New York City.
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- I noticed my Winter House kitchen cabinets were looking a bit timeworn. Notice the wear on the bottom of the drawer.
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- This is called harewood, a type of maple with a curled or “fiddleback” figure – a pattern that shows wavy lines perpendicular to the wood grain. It’s the custom made wood used on all my drawer and cabinet fronts.
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- The first step was to remove any surface dirt. Enma wipes down each wooden drawer and panel with a damp cloth.
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- It is important to ensure all the surfaces are completely clean before applying any tonic. Enma goes over it multiple times.
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- And then she follows it up with a dry cloth – don’t forget the wood edges and underneath the drawers also.
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- Next, Enma dips a section of a soft microfiber cloth into the non-toxic Furniture Tonic. This tonic restores and enhances the shine. It’s even better knowing all the ingredients are natural and safe for the environment, and around children and pets.
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- And here, Enma begins to apply a thin coat on all the wood. All Christophe’s products are so easy to use – any one of them can be applied with a clean, soft cloth.
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- The wood absorbs the tonic so quickly – these drawers are very thirsty.
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- And look at the drawer edges – the nicks and scratches have disappeared.
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- Enma goes over the surface multiple times to ensure every area is covered.
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- These drawers are in my servery and house some of my silver forks and spoons – what a difference.
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- With just an application of Christiophe Pourny’s Furniture Tonic, these pantry doors look lustrous and new.
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- The Color Reviver adds a boost to the furniture finish and also helps hide any nicks and scratches on darker wood. Once a year, my stable team cleans and coats the stalls.
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- These beautiful wooden stable walls and gates often get kicked and marred by hooves. They need to be scrubbed down and treated regularly.
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- Here, the walls are sprayed with Christophe Pourny’s dark Furniture Tonic.
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- And then a sponge is used to spread the tonic on the wood surfaces.
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- Look at the wall after a few minutes.
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- On the bottom of this gate, one side is treated with tonic and the other is not.
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- This stable has eight stalls, so the entire project takes a full day, but the results are wonderful.
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- Treating the wood not only returns it to its original lustre, but it also creates a protective layer that adds to the wood’s durability.
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- Whether you use Christophe’s light or dark Furniture Tonic, I know you’ll love the results. And please look at his web site to see all his other furniture care products, including wood and leather cleaners, conditioners, waxes, serums, and soaps. And be sure to get his book, “The Furniture Bible” now in its ninth printing. His book offers a comprehensive guide to furniture restoration you’ll refer to time after time.
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