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Speaker Wood Conditioner recommendation

Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 1:15 pm
by admin
I own a lot of antique hardwood furniture and through a lot of trial and error I found a product that works really well to keep the wood healthy and good looking. The best selling product on the market is probably Pledge furniture spray. DO NOT USE THIS. I've found it to be a rather poor product that "shines up" furniture temporarily but nothing more. The best product I have found is "Howard Feed-N-Wax Wood Polish and Conditioner." Not only does this give a nice shine, it will moisturize the wood and keep it from cracking and drying out.

I noticed that the wood paneling on my Magnepan 20.1's were not looking as healthy as they used to. We have very dry winters and this can dry out wood rather quickly. Since I had such good results on my wood furniture I tried it out on my speakers and was really impressed. I have included some pictures although they really don't do it justice. Remember that this is for wood surfaces, so if you have a solid veneer or lacquer on wood, you don't want to use it.

If memory serves I think they recommend leaving it on for an hour and then wiping any excess off. I've used it on multiple pieces of furniture and I recommend leaving it on for 24 hours, then wiping it off. I apply it with a cloth and wipe it off the next day with a kitchen paper towel which absorbs any excess product.

Howard Feed-n-wax website

Available on Amazon

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Wear gloves, it's kind of messy and greasy.

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I used a laminated paper card to wedge in the border to keep any of the product from getting on the cloth during application.

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A nice healthy shine.

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Before Application

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After Application. It's kind of hard to see on the pictures but in real life the difference is rather impressive.

Re: Speaker Wood Conditioner recommendation

Posted: Tue May 30, 2017 1:41 pm
by adeep42
Wow!!! What a difference. Your Maggies look like new.

Re: Speaker Wood Conditioner recommendation

Posted: Tue May 30, 2017 10:45 pm
by admin
It definitely took a few years off. I use this stuff on some of my old furniture (100 year old mahogany) and it really does a nice job with moisturizing the wood. Our winters are dry and summers humid, so wood really takes a beating in our climate.

Re: Speaker Wood Conditioner recommendation

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2017 11:51 am
by Big Dog RJ
Hey Admin,

I had a very similar wood polish that I first used when I was in the states. Those were the days of Maggies and ML sequels which had wooden trims. At the time they recommended Linseed oil high furniture grade polish, which I sourced from Walmart and later on from a hardware shop. When I finished up and headed back home to Colombo, due to our tropics, the maggies and Infinities were always looking dull... The linseed oil came into good use once again and this is pretty much the same oil they use on top-line cricket bats, such as Kookaburra & Hammer Kyro. They all use this type of linseed oil which is the genuine oil from the flax seed itself, hence no artificial add-ons whatsoever.

I still have a bottle left here in Aussie now, and I use them on the Ethos and they look fabulous! Obviously different countries would have different variants of the oil/polish. As long as it's linseed, the top furniture grade specialists highly recommend it. Buffing only takes 10 mins after application but must be fully dry the following day. The smoothness and texture is also superb, and you can feel the difference.

By the way, those MG20's are always looking magnificent as always! It's good therapy when you take time to polish the speakers, buff up and care for them. I think it's better than gardening...
Cheers mate, RJ

Re: Speaker Wood Conditioner recommendation

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:58 pm
by admin
Hi RJ,

I've heard many people use linseed oil on their furniture. I've tried to use pure oils on furniture in the past but have found the application not always consistent. I think I put too much on some places and it can show as a "shiny spot." This probably is more my lack of application skills vs a product defect, but who knows, maybe I was just using the wrong product. The most common furniture product here in the US is probably Pledge spray, but I hate that stuff and don't know why so many people buy it. I really like the Howard product as it applies nice and evenly. I think the small amount of wax they put in the product also seals the surface a bit so it does not dry out so quickly so you get that "rich wood shine" lasting for a very long time. I've never had any "spotting issues" even if I am not careful with the application as it spreads evenly with some minor rubbing.

Your comments make me want to buy a bottle of linseed oil and give that another go. For those who may be worried about application issues, the Howard product is pretty safe in the sense that it would be really hard to mess up the surface. Also removes the step of applying a wax (if that is desired).

Agree with taking care of your equipment being cathartic. You take care of the things you love.

Take care.

Re: Speaker Wood Conditioner recommendation

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 3:51 am
by jahatl513
It has been my secret ingredient for a long time along with their wood restorer and xxxx Steel wool and the Magic Eraser. In my beginning I had many 1970's/1980's speakers I acquired cheaply that had the typical beer can/drink stains. Using Magic eraser, Howard's finish restorer and the final step this way and made magic happen with old speaker finishes that were hard to believe.

Re: Speaker Wood Conditioner recommendation

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 7:45 am
by admin
Wow, great job. Looking at the last picture I was thinking that may need to be sanded down first but it looks really great.

Re: Speaker Wood Conditioner recommendation

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 9:28 am
by jahatl513
No sanding... that is using a Magic Eraser (you do know what they are?), a little water to get the years of wax, grime, cigarette smoke (not mine) off so when you use the OOOO Steel Wool and the wood restorer to take it down with out sanding. See the attached image. When you got nothing to lose, you can be creative and test out things. The steps are actually on the back of the Restorer can you find in any Home Depot Paint department near the stains, and probably where you got the Bee's Wax which is how I finished these and many more like them off. In this case it was a JBL L-100 I believe that I bought for $400 and sold for $1000 to a restaurant who had 3 pair and needed one more; driven by a Crown AMP.

Re: Speaker Wood Conditioner recommendation

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 10:21 am
by admin
Yup, I have the same restor-a-finish in a few flavors. I own a lot of antique furniture and touch them up on a regular basis. I've had to do more extensive restores on some of them. The products work well. Again, congrats on the great job.

Re: Speaker Wood Conditioner recommendation

Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 6:57 pm
by roberto
Hola, the orange oil and the bee wax is the product that I use for the wood of my Spanish guitars. They look beautiful. Also, I do apply it to my CLXs and the woofer. The cabinet of the Summits I use it too. The wood veins and the look of the woof is fantastic. I also do recommend the use of this product.

Happy listening!