Rust Removal and Storytelling

I started on my spool bed project with a basic cleaning. The finish is so old it comes off like dirt which will make the stripping go faster, but it's messy. Years in an outdoor storage shed has made the hardware rusty.

I visited my local man-worker-filled hardware store. I'm always under the assumption man-workers at a hardware store KNOW something, but in reality few do. I asked two of them how to remove rust. Both are wonderfully trained salesmen and showed me a variety of toxic chemicals designed to do just that. Expensive, toxic chemicals.

"But is there a home remedy for rust removal? Something people in the good ol' days used?"

They had no idea. Really? Free advice doesn't allow them to make any money. So when I got home I got online. I'm fairly convinced there is a natural, home remedy for anything you can do with a chemical.

Vinegar. Of course. How many thousands of uses does vinegar have? It's a miracle.

If the item you need to clean is small enough, submerse it in a container of vinegar and wait a couple hours. If you don't want to scrub, leave it 24 hours. It foams and that's a good sign.

Then rinse the objects off. Some of the rust clings so take a sponge, scrubber or rag and wipe it off.

 

 

I wish I would have taken a photo of these pieces when they were caked with rust so the difference would be obvious. Nevertheless, it's a miracle! Not only is it like magic, but I can now identify the manufacturer of these foundry pieces.

Knecht & Kempf was a foundry/iron works company in Cincinnati, Ohio between 1867 and 1872. It's my assumption based on this information the bed is from Ohio and made between these dates, but the company was still in existence after 1872 with a new partnership so I really have no idea if they went to the trouble to changed the stamp of the company name or not. For now it's my assumption the bed was made in the late 1800s.

I've also learned spool beds were made as early as the 1600s. In the 1830s, the head and foot boards were usually equal in height. Since my new acquisition has head and foot boards of different heights, it's probably later. English manufacturers decorated every inch of the design. Americans didn't. This information only supports my theory it's from the late 1800's and American.

 

This is what I love about refurbishing old furniture. It's like detective work and sometimes furniture will "talk" to you and give you clues. On other pieces I've found dates or company names embossed or stamped onto the undersides, but unfortunately, not with this one. As I'm cleaning it, I notice the marks, gouges, scrapes on the surface and wonder about its history. Most of these I will leave rather than sand them out because I think the history is important to the piece. The woman who gave it to me at the last minute felt a compulsion to grab the fourth rung from the left side and twist it. It squeaked. She smiled wistfully and said, "I love that. When I was little I used to lay in bed late at night and make it squeak." It makes me not want to paint the bed as it will stop the squeak.

I love history.