Cleaning Steps for a Grandfather Clock

Pour a ½ cup of turpentine into a screw-top glass jar. Turpentine, a distillation of tree resin, cleans all types of wood surfaces.

Add 1 ounce of beeswax to the turpentine and secure the lid to the jar. Shake the jar well to blend the contents. Set the jar aside for a day, or until the beeswax dissolves in the turpentine. Beeswax, when blended and applied with turpentine, leaves a smooth, hard finish on wood surfaces.

Remove the pendulum from the clock and set it aside. This prevents any damage from occurring during the cleaning process.

Grasp the “hood” of the clock, the wooden framework that protects the clock’s face as well and the operating gears of the timepiece, with your hands. With one hand on either side, slide the entire hood toward you, remove it from the grandfather clock and place it on a table.

Blow dust off the surface of the clock face with a puff of canned air. Do not attempt to wipe the face with a cloth as the fabric from a cleaning cloth could snag or bend the clock’s hands.

Remove the dust from the surface of the case with a dust wand. In the absence of a dust wand, you can dust the clock case with a clean rag.

Fold a clean rag into a rectangular pad large enough to fit in your hand and moisten it with the mixture of turpentine and beeswax. Use this solution sparingly and do not overload your pad. Apply gentle pressure as your rub the solution on the wood. Work from the top of the clock case to the bottom and continue until you finish the entire case.

Buff the case, briskly, with another clean rag. Thorough buffing enhances the beauty of the wood grain and creates a satin-smooth shine.

Wipe the wood of the clock’s hood with the mixture of turpentine and beeswax. Buff the wood thoroughly.

Spray a window cleaning solution, made of four parts water to one part white vinegar, on a pad of folded paper towels and clean the hood’s glass.

Replace the hood on the top of the grandfather clock and attach the pendulum.