It’s been a bit sparse for questions this week… surely we haven’t answered them all?? But a few old favourites came up again, so, at the risk of repeating myself, I thought they probably deserved another outing, as they are clearly still relevant.

We’re slowly discontinuing our Gilt Cream, and replacing it with the Rainbow Wax, which is a great alternative for it, and just a bit more user-friendly. But there’s still a lot of Gilt Cream out there, and it’s the type of product that doesn’t get used quickly. And, inevitably, it sometimes dries out in the jar before it gets used up. This is quite an easy one to remedy; white spirit is the best solvent to add to it, just put a small amount in the jar and allow it to soak in. The Gilt Cream will soften up after a day or two, and should be usable. It might be necessary to add a little more, but we recommend adding it slowly – it’s easier to add more than to try and take it out!

What’s the best thing to overcoat Spirit Stain with? Most of our products are suitable, in the main the aerosol finishes are best, but this particular question was asking about a front door. The door was partially under cover, so it wouldn’t get the full brunt of the weather, but it still needed to be protected. Our suggestion here was the Hard Wax Oil. It is easy to apply, won’t affect the stain, and will stand up to a lot of weathering.

And finally, for this week, the old question about the Accelerator for Superglues and how to stop it making the glue go white. This one is really simple; use less accelerator! It only takes a little to speed up the drying time, and turning white is a sure sign that too much has been applied. It only takes a very short burst of the Accelerator. And, if you’re working on a very small item (such as a ring), spray the Accelerator into the air and pass the item through the mist. Easy!

I visited Ashdown Turners on Thursday – that’s tomorrow night as I write this, and potentially yesterday as you read it. This means I can’t tell you much about it, but I’m sure it all went well, and the club looked after me. This was my last major trip out until after the Weekender, as you might expect, I’ll be concentrating on that for the next few weeks!