Heirloom Beds Ltd

Our Superior Finish

First of all the finish you will find on almost every other mahogany furniture website is a stain and beeswax marketed as the best way to protect your bed amongst many superlatives such as -

Buffed to a semi doff / full doff.  Highly polished finish, ‘Hand-rubbed finish resulting in a rich patina of timeless elegance’. Mid Matt, Mid Gloss, Rich Gloss etc.

Superlatives and descriptions aside it is all waxed and stained!

The real reason is because manufacturers do not do it any other way; it is the finish of choice driven by production limitations and primarily costs. As the quickest and cheapest method it is the standard across virtually every other website selling mahogany furniture.

1. A beeswax finish does not seal timber and allows greater moisture fluctuations.
2. Flattens grain and character.
3. Beeswax finished furniture requires bees waxing 3 times a year which is hard work.

The Heirloom Beds finish costs us approximately 5 times as much as beeswax and a week to complete.

It means that we can never offer the cheapest mahogany sleigh bed or the cheapest four poster beds (though we are still lower than most) but it does mean we offer unrivalled value and quality sleigh beds, four poster beds.

It has helped greatly that we have such a close partnership with a UK owned and managed factory with UK standards.

The Heirloom Beds Finish

Our Mahogany and Walnut finish process.

1. Sanded over 3 grades to 0000 wire wool stringently oil free
2. Stained accordingly for our Mahogany and Walnut finish
3. Furniture grade Clay washed this fills the grain enabling even application of lacquers later in the process.
4. De nibbed with 0000 wire wool
5. Wiped with thinner using washed cotton cloth to ensure there is no oil or silicone contamination
6. Step 3 repeated
7. Step 4 repeated
8. Step 5 repeated
9. First application of highest quality Japanese (clearwater) Nippon nitrocellulose lacquer. This choice of lacquer is v important as cheap lacquers revealing an amber colour in the tin given 10 years or more can yellow and crack over time and give a slightly plastic look which you don't want!
10. Allowed to harden fully over 24 hrs, wiped with thinner using washed cotton cloth to ensure there is no oil or silicone contamination.
11. Step 9 repeated
12. Step 10 repeated
13. Step 9 repeated
14. Step 10 repeated
15. Step 9 repeated with final colour correction requiring a keen eye and judgment.
16. Step 10 repeated
17. Polish with rottenstone suspended fine particle liquid abrasive using wool or cotton pads lubricated further with water.
18. Left for 5 days to fully harden before foam and card protection.

Total time taken 13 days 20 step process

This finish gives depth and clarity to the grain and character for which Swietenia strain Mahogany is regarded over all others. In your home you will see on a repeated basis different grain and character under different light conditions. On our bed we get deep dark chocolate streaks at the top of the footboard under a dimmed light bulb at night. In daylight even the pattern of grain disappears into another and changes to dramatically different colours. Its this sort of character that the highest quality wax finish regardless of number of applications and time taken is incapable of repeating.

Our Walnut distressed finish process.

1. Sanded over 3 grades to 0000 wire wool stringently oil free.
2. Whipped in the raw using cat o' nine tail whip with random metal objects such as brass fittings, small padlocks, keys, nuts etc.
3. Scraped using glass or blades.
4. Stained accordingly for our Walnut finish.
5. Furniture grade Clay washed this fills the grain enabling even application of lacquers later in the process.
6. De nibbed with 0000 wire wool.
7. Wiped with thinner using washed cotton cloth to ensure there is no oil or silicone contamination.
8. Step 3 repeated.
9. Step 4 repeated.
10. Step 5 repeated.
11. Step 6 repeated.
12. First application of highest quality Japanese ("clearwater") Nippon nitrocellulose lacquer. This choice of lacquer is very important as cheap lacquers revealing an amber colour in the tin given 10 years or more can yellow and crack over time and give a slightly plastic look which you don't want!
13. Allowed to harden fully over 24 hrs, wiped with thinner using washed cotton cloth to ensure there is no oil or silicone contamination.
14. Whipped using cat o' nine tail whip with random metal objects such as brass fittings, small padlocks, keys, nuts etc.
15. Scraped using glass or blades.
16. Dark antique scrumble stain brushed on and then cleaned off it then sits in the stress marks from the cat o'nine tail and scraping.
17. Step 12 & 13 repeated.
18. Step 14, 15, & 16 repeated.
19. Step 12 & 13 repeated.
20. Step 14, 15, 16 repeated.
21. Step 12 repeated with final colour correction requiring a keen eye and judgment then step 13.
22. Polish with rottenstone suspended fine particle liquid abrasive using wool or cotton pads lubricated further with water.
23. Left for 5 days to fully harden before foam and card protection.

This is a total of 30 steps taking a total time of 15 days.

This finish gives depth and clarity to the grain and character for which Swietenia strain Mahogany is regarded over all others. In your home even with the distressed finish you will see on a repeated basis different grain and character under different light conditions.Its this sort of character that the highest quality wax finish regardless of number of applications and time taken is incapable of repeating.

Our painted distressed finish is actually the most expensive and time consuming finish of all with fewer individual types of technique they are repeated more often than other steps in other finish types. Also paint takes longer to harden before you can move onto the next stage as you can imagine time carrys a cost in production.

Our methods are all done by hand using highly skilled craftsmen using original traditional techniques. These are techniques that you are unlikely to see in any chain or department store that deals in mass manufactured furniture.

1. Once cabinet furniture is completed in the raw (bare wood) we sand over 3 grades the last using furniture finishing wool which is much finer than for example wet and dry, to give you an idea you can rub your face on it without discomfort.
2. Timber is sealed using a white primer, as mahogany has a rich grain and colour variation with natural oils it needs to be completely sealed as the base colour of the timber will continue to bleed through. This means not just any primer can be used we add dried fine clay to the primer ensuring subsequent layers are not discoloured and ensures consistent colour across the piece.
3. 7 coats are applied of the final colour each of these you have to allow to harden and then fine sand before applying the next coat.
4. The same distressing techniques we use on the walnut distressed finish is applied using a cat o' nine tails with random metal objects attached to whip the finish and stress the timber also. Also used is glass or blades adding an additional stressing element.
5. The furniture once painted and distressed has an application of finishers wax this protect and softens the final look of the finish and gives it a tactile feel ie you dont feel like your touching dried paint. It also protects the finish from marks and stains as it is used over time.
6. The wax application is fine sanded with wet and dry grade sandpaper.
7. Supersoft wire wool is used to polish the final finish
8. When combining colours they are done only after the first is finished as you can imagine 2 colours adds a considerable amount of processes and time.

This Process requires 22 steps in total and when combining colours 32 which gives a high quality hand finish that is virtually impossible to find on the high street.

Occasionally we mix the walnut distressed finish and black distressed with painted finish and with 2 colours this can total 62 processes!