I had so much fun spending all last Monday cleaning up an old steamer trunk my neighbor gave me, I decided to do it again today. After spending an hour at deep-water aerobics and then coming home to clean house, I pulled the trunk out of the garage and went to work This time I focused on the interior, which was lined with musty old fabric that might have been stripy and blue at one time.
I tried just wetting the fabric down and then scraping it away with a paint scraper, but the trunk is so huge, that task quickly became exhausting. So I decided to carry the trunk out to the side of the yard where I then proceeded to hose the interior down. The sprayer nozzle did a good job of blasting out the old fabric and cardboard underneath without destroying the rest of the trunk, though I did have to re-clean the entire thing once I was done and apply another layer of lemon oil everywhere. However, it got the job done. One problem I discovered though was that the bottom of the pop-out drawer in the top half of the trunk was nothing but cardboard. It was also musty and stinky, so I had to tear it out. Now I’ll have to remove all the old nails in the drawer, get a new bottom cut from wood to replace the old cardboard, and then hammer that in place before I can sand, stain and finish the interior.
One other problem is the metal fixings. They need to be scrubbed, and scrubbed hard, to get rid of all the dirt and rust. It’s going to be quite a job, and I may need to invest in extra batteries for my Black & Decker hand tool to ensure it gets done before next year. My hand tool has a small wire brush attachment which does help cut through the worst of the dirt. Steel wool will finish things off. Looks like a trip to the hardware store is in order!
Here’s the pic of the trunk’s interior before I began cleaning it…
And here’s the trunk after 4 hours of hard work…
It does look better, I think.
By the way, as I was cleaning out the trunk today, my best friend Mary stopped by and dropped off this…
I plan to get a helmet later this afternoon and see a) if I can still remember how to ride a bike and b) how quickly I will wipe out and tear up my knee. Mary swears wiping out only hurts the first 4 or 5 dozen times.
Anyway, I’m tired an filthy and sweaty now and I’m going to make lunch and get cleaned up so I can go buy that helmet and then pass out for the rest of the day.
Oy!
That’s a gorgeous trunk. Definitely worth the effort. But what are you going to use it for once you are finished with the restoration?
Allie,
Once the trunk is finished, I plan to put it in the front half of my kitchen, which I am taking over as an art/crafts area. I’ll use the trunk to store my art supplies in. I found a battered Ethan Allen cabinet that I already put in there to hold the kids’ art supplies. So two walls will have storage for supplies, one wall gets a book shelf with all my art books in it, the fourth wall is a set of bay windows and in the center is a big ol’ cargo box table and matching chairs. It’s a bit crowded in there, but will work well as art space thanks to the storage and table!