Today's Secret's - Buying second hand or antiques repair and tips to save you money

An obvious one first - If a piece of furniture has little holes in it, it could mean woodworm. If you buy it anyway you may need to get it treated (May is best for this to get the larvae) and quickly as woodworm can spread. It may also reduce the value of the item.

If you want to get an antique look to a piece of furniture mix furniture varnish with soot and rub it in.

Scratches and rings in tables can be removed by using half a walnut rubbed over the scratch or use petroleum jelly on it and leave for 24 hours before buffing in.

To remove ink stains by soaking a piece of cotton in water and placing it on the stain, leave overnight and it will draw it out.

Use crayons of the same colour to fill in scratches or cracks in wood.


Check if handles are original by looking inside the draws to see if there is any extra holes or how new the screws look. Clean Brass handles with lemon juice.

Fabric cleaner with water will clean a gilded plate if left to soak.

Pottery cracks can be filled by heating it slowly to 110 c this opens the crack so you can put in some glue and then let it dry and the crack will seal up.
For hairline cracks boil it in a pan of milk for half an hour and the crack should disappear.

Sniff silver as it has a stronger smell than plate. Learn the difference and you can never be fooled.
To read a hall mark better, breath on it as it will make it stand out or burn a bit of paper and let the soot settle on the hall mark, use tape over it to remove the soot and then place the tape on white paper to see the mark.
To polish silver use your fingers.

Brown sauce can clean brass if you leave it over night.

Brown marks on books can be removed with breadcrumbs.

Almond oil can work a treat on tortoise shell and Ivory.

Remove scratches from your watch face with metal polish.

Denture cleaning tablets popped into a long necked vase will clean it up.

To clean an oil painting just spit on cotton and rub gently, surface dirt can be removed with a piece of bread. Check a small area first as with all these tips.

Real silk will stick to a brick wall. Try it.
Think a designer label may be fake? Check the stitching is even and the lining is of good quality as both will be perfect in an original.

If you attend a car boot sale then get there early as bargains go first.
Never pass up a charity shop some can surprise you.
Try places/sales in early spring as that's when people have a good clear out.
Haggle - it is part of the fun and the only way to get a bargain, if you don't ask you won't get.

Have fun and good luck.