Some projects do not require paint and new fabric. Some just need a really good cleaning. For this particular project, all I needed was a bottle of Mr. Clean, a scrub brush, some salt water and a few pieces of aluminum foil.
I purchased this at an estate auction last week. It was filthy! I think that worked to my advantage while bidding. I didn't have to pay very much for it. I had checked it out earlier and determined the enamel was in pretty good shape, just really dirty. I was pretty confident it would clean up well. It certainly wasn't an appealing kitchen table in this state.
It is a Geer Table, manufactured by the R.B. Geer Mfg Co in New Windsor, Maryland. I tried to find some information about the company online and didn't find anything.
The underside was covered in what I like to call "barn goo". Dust, dirt, cobwebs and just a layer of generally unknown substance.
One of my favorite tools is a whisk broom. I used it on the majority of my projects. It works really well getting the "barn goo" off the projects.
After the barn goo was removed, I tackled the top of the enamel table. I used Mr. Clean spray cleaner all over the top and let it set for a couple of minutes. I used a soft scrub brush and gently worked my way over the top in a small circular motion.
It cleaned up beautifully! It only took about five minutes to clean it. I have spent much more time on other enamel tables and didn't get the same results. This one is very nice.
Next I turned my attention to the drawer.
I cleaned the drawer inside and out with Mr. Clean spray cleaner. I removed the drawer handle.
It was dirty and rusty.
The chrome legs on the table were dirty and rusty too. I cleaned each leg with the Mr. Clean spray cleaner, then I needed to tackle the rust. A great way to remove rust from chrome is to use salt water and crumpled up aluminum foil.
I mixed table salt in some warm water and tore off about 5 pieces of aluminum foil. Each one was about 4 inches wide.
Below is a video using the foil on the table leg. The audio is terrible, but it shows the process.
The foil works really well to clean up the chrome legs. One the legs was severely pitted, but it still cleaned it up pretty well. I was happy with the overall result.
This was after the first pass. I went back over each leg again and removed a lot of the rust.
I reattached the drawer pull after cleaning it up. It isn't in perfect shape, but it is in far better shape now. The inside of the drawer cleaned up but not as well as I would have wanted. I added a piece of kraft scrapbook paper to the drawer.
This table cleaned up beautifully! It didn't need to be repainted at all—just a good scrubbing. There was a beauty hiding under all that gunk. This got loaded in the car as soon as it was finished. I am taking it to the booth first thing on Monday!
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