Cleaning up old bows

A. Getting rid of dirt and grime. Most older bows have accumulated a lot of dirt and even mold over the years. For dirt and a generally dull finish I use Scratch Out by Kit. You can get it at any auto parts store. Put some on a soft rag and rub on the bow. It has not harmed the finish of any bow I have used it on, however I do not guarantee that on all bows. *Note if you get an early Ben Pearson bow(1953-1957) these bows have a cellophane label that comes off if it is rubbed. If you get one of these bows, put some varnish over the label, to protect it. The Scratch out will clean up a bow, but it takes elbow grease. Car wax or other polishes with grit can damage the finish of bows. I prefer a lighter touch and Scratch Out allows you to do it slowly. If the finish has turned yellow(Wing bows do this a lot) use rubbing alcohol with a cotton ball to remove the yellow tint. Again this takes a lot of elbow grease.

B. Little things that make a bow look better. Clean the tip overlays and sand them with some 400 grit paper. Use Formby's Tung Oil finish either high gloss or low gloss as you prefer. Any wipe on finish will probably work. Put some on a clean lint free cloth and wipe the tips. It will create a nice shine that really improves the bows appearance. Another thing that helps the looks is to use the 400 grit paper to sand the sides of the laminations on the limbs. There are often marks, mold strains and dents that hold dirt. Do not sand the glass, just clean the wood laminations. Once the sides of the lamination are clean use the wipe on finish to seal the laminations. *Note use a light coat on the cloth or you will get the finish on the glass and mess it up. The wipe on finish works well on wood, it tends to leave lines on fiberglass. I do not recommend refinishing the handle of a collectibal bow. If you sand off the decals and weight, serial number, model number ect. It destroys the collectable value of the bow. *Note these are suggestions for collectable bows. If you get a $5 bow at a yard sale a non-collectable or that is already in bad shape, then what you do does not matter. If you save the bow, great and if you mess it up, you have not lost much.

C. Filling screw holes A screw hole or two reduces the appearance of a collectible bow. To fill the holes and match the color I melt different color crayons to get a color match, fill the holes and put wipe-on finish over the filled holes. If you get a good color match save the wax , you may get another bow with the same glass.

I do not claim to be any kind of expert on restoring bows. These are just some things I do to make the bows I collect look better. If you have any tips let me know.