What is the best furniture polish for a 1860 mahogany bed,dresser?

Question

Orange comes to mind?

Answer 1

First off, neither wood nor finish needs to be "fed," "nourished," "restored essential oils," and other marketing drivel.

Here is a good article that would pertain to a piece nearly 150 years old.

By "polish" I presume you mean the American usage, a treatment product and not the British usage of a clear finish.   If you are talking about the latter, then the answer is shellac.

I am not sure what you mean by "orange"    Orange oils are usually just light mineral oil with a splash of color and fragrance.

Avoid Pledge at all costs.

Edit:  Essential Oils from the orange zest:   Just more pure marketing drivel.  This is a product called d-Limonene, and works very similarly to paint thinner.  It can remove some soils and it can dissolve wax.  Howards products are not magic, they are just ordinary products with a lot of "trade secret" wrapped around them (that any finish chemist could reverse engineer in an afternoon) and lots of marketing hype.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-limonene.

Answer 2

I'm going to have to disagree with Tule.  I have some antique furniture that I got from my mom many years ago.  I tried EVERYTHING I could think of to clean it, but to no avail, there was always this wierd film that refused to relinquish its hold on the finish.  I stumbled on Howards Feed-N-Wax at the hardware store, and thought I'd give it a try.  WOW!  It really worked; the wood literally drinks the stuff up and takes on a wonderful luster.  It buffs out nicely as well.  Yes, it has petroleum distillates in it, but the "orange" is essential oil from the zest of the fruit.  It is very fragrant and powerful, having many other uses besides "polishing" furniture.  It seems to leave a dust-repelling quality to it as well.  Howards also makes a paste wax that can be used for actual "polishing."  I haven't tried it yet, but it's on my list the very next time I see it.

Answer 3

Beeswax it comes in spray form at tescos and really feeds the wood.

Answer 4

Beeswax and Orange Oil by Howard's is the best I have found to use on my antique collection. It smells so heavenly too. Found in all hardware stores in the furniture polish department.