QI have a basket that belonged to my husband’s grandfather and is close to 200 years old. His grandfather worked for the Brunswick Railroad and carried his lunch in this basket. It is quite dusty on the top. How can I clean it without damaging it?
AUse a soft brush or a feather duster, or vacuum with an upholstery attachment wrapped in a piece of old nylon stocking or netting. To loosen dirt lodged in crevices, try an artist’s brush. If the bristles seem too floppy to loosen the debris, try an acid brush, a type sold for spreading flux on areas about to be soldered.
Basketmakers typically soak the materials before they weave them, so people sometimes clean baskets by dipping them in water, or even by scrubbing them with warm, soapy water. That’s a fine way to clean inexpensive baskets you pick up at garage sales, especially when you’re worried about what sort of dirt they might harbor. The benefits of getting the basket clean outweigh the risks of having basketry materials swell out of shape. However, on an irreplaceable antique basket such as yours, it’s not a good idea. Soaking the basket in water can make parts pop out of place, and it risks removing some of the patina you treasure.
If there are still grimy areas after you dust or vacuum, dampen a cotton cloth and gently blot the area to clean it.
I have a set of Wagner Ware Magnalite pots that I received as a wedding gift 48 years ago. I still use them regularly, but they have become discolored, inside and out. Is there anything I can do to rejuvenate them?
Peter Pike, president of American Culinary Corp., which bought the original Magnalite company and still casts these pots in Ohio, said a few simple steps should get your pots in like-new condition.
Magnalite — a word coined from magnesium and aluminum — can easily be cleaned with white vinegar. Pike recommends against using cider vinegar because of its amber color. “It can work like food coloring,” he said. Pour about a half cup of the vinegar into your pan, set it on the stove, then fill nearly to the brim with water. Turn on the heat. When the water just begins to boil, turn down the temperature so the water doesn’t spill out over the stovetop. The water should be “just rolling across the surface of the pan,” Pike said. Cook for 20 minutes to half an hour. You should see a yucky scum rise — Pike called it “the most awful sight you’ve ever seen” — as the acidic solution etches off the deposits. The result, once you empty the pan and rinse it clean, should be shiny metal. As an extra measure, though not an essential one, you can polish the interior with super-fine 1000-grit wet-dry sandpaper, which will remove some of the shallow pits that might have been created over time by acidic food that was cooked in your pan.
To clean the exterior, Pike recommends cream of tartar (sold in the spice aisle and, more affordably, in the bulk-foods section of some grocery stores). Mix the powder, which is acidic and has a scouring quality, with water to the consistency of toothpaste, and rub on with a paper towel or rag. Rinse thoroughly.
Finally, add a nonstick coating to the pan’s interior. To do that, wipe on a thin layer of flaxseed oil or vegetable oil, then invert the pan over a cookie sheet and bake for about half an hour at 325 degrees. Flaxseed oil works best as a non-stick coating because it cures to a harder finish than other oils, Pike said. He advises against using olive oil because it stays gummy.
To keep your pots looking great, wash them by hand, not in a dishwasher, Pike said.
If handles or knobs on your pots are damaged, American Culinary Corp. sells replacements, listed under Magnalite “specialities” on its Web site, www.americanculinarycorp.com. The handle design is slightly different than the one shown in the picture you sent because food-safety rules for commercial kitchens required eliminating a groove by the screw where food could collect. Like the old handles, the new ones are a modern, heat-resistant phenolic plastic, but they are heat-resistant, unlike the original Bakelite. But the new handles fit the old pots just fine.
The time invested in shining up your pots is well worth it. Magnalite pots are sought-after collector’s items and are also treasured by chefs who appreciate their light weight, good heat conduction and ability to go from refrigerator to stovetop to oven. The main design was done by John Gordon Rideout, an industrial designer. The architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the handle, which has a pattern of lines on the top, echoing a feature on many of his furniture pieces.
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