THREE DONT’S FOR ANTIQUERS

1. Don't cut the printed price off a books dust jacket. It will affect the resale value.

2. Don't moisten a rye straw basket. If it gets too wet, it may mold.

3. Don't tilt back in your wooden chair. (Didn't your mother always tell you that?) It will weaken the frame and even break the chair.

QUESTION AND TIP ABOUT GLASS

From an email from L.T.:
I recently put a vintage glass rectangular refrigerator dish in the microwave. The dish had the typical ribbed base and embossed fruit on the lid. Within no time, the lid cracked into three pieces. I thought all glass was safe in a microwave. Did this dish have a hairline I didn't notice or will this happen to all refrigerator dishes of this age and style?

Tip (and an answer to L.T.'s question):
Terry: I can answer because I did the same thing to a glass dish with embossed fruit. I have no proof, but I think the difference between the thickness of the glass in the raised fruit and the surrounding dish caused a stress point. I have used plain ribbed glass storage dishes in the microwave often, with no trouble. Glass should be OK, in general, but I wouldn't try cut glass, either. It would break on a deep cut. One of my pieces did when I put a bowl of hot liquid Jell-O in the refrigerator to cool. The change in temperature did the damage. Glass "ages." It becomes more brittle as it gets older. That's why you must check glass shelves. They bend slightly and eventually break if they're holding heavy objects.

MORE WOODWORMS...

More woodworm information from L.Z., a reader:

"There are two inexpensive materials that kill rot and insects--borates (borax-boric acid mixture) and glycol, available as auto antifreeze/coolant (use propylene glycol, not ethylene glycol, which is a dangerous chemical that causes damage to the heart, liver and kidneys). Borates and glycol are water soluble, so brush the chemical on the affected area and let it soak in, or if you can, immerse the item in a bucket of the solution for a few minutes."

TIP FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER

Remember this next week. To remove candle wax that has dripped on your Thanksgiving tablecloth, first harden the wax by putting a plastic sandwich bag filled with ice on it. Next, scrape off as much as possible with a dull knife or a credit card. Put the tablecloth between two pieces of paper from a brown paper bag and iron the "sandwich" on low heat until the remaining wax melts into the paper. Wash the tablecloth with a detergent.

FURNITURE TIP

Furniture Tip

Treat your furniture the same way you treat your face. Wash it to remove the dirt. You do not want to remove the skin. Don't sand too much or use a "dip strip."

A TIP FROM A READER

A tip from a reader

Add this to your tips on what to wear while treasure hunting: Carry a face mask. My friend and I picked up mold spores from some old barn wood and my doctor said a mask would have helped. Good for dusty attics and damp basements, too.

IVORY

Tips on Care and Repairs

Last week's tip about ivory included a suggestion about holding the ivory near an open flame and sniffing the smoke for a telltale odor. It is not a good idea for an amateur to try this; the ivory may be burned. The website given in the tip had an incorrect letter. It should have been iovinc.com.

COLLECTORS TIP FROM ONE OF OUR READERS

Collectors tip from one of our readers

It is fairly easy to discern ivory if you know what it does NOT look like.

Cast resin whale teeth or other cast resin pieces usually have tiny burst bubbles in them that leave small round depressions in the surface. Also, the cavity in the bottom of the tooth will not be deep and will not mirror the contour of the outside. Best test is to hold the item about 2 inches over a stove burner. As it heats up it gives off a noxious plastic odor.

Bone, which is organic, will normally show either a uniform blanched white surface or numerous tiny parallel lines. If you hold bone over a stove burner, as it heats up it will begin to smell like chicken bones left on a barbecue grill.

Ivory, regardless of the animal it comes from, normally has some apparent wavy grain like woodgrain that you can find someplace on the surface. If the object includes the entire round tusk, you can see crosshatching just inside the outer "skin". If held over a stove burner, it will give off the same smell as bone as it heats up.

On fake scrimshaw, the "engraving" and artificial scarring are the same shallow depth. A fake whale tooth generally also shows parallel saw marks across the bottom (open end).

Collectors tip from one of our readers--Dr. Jerome C. Ford from http://www.iovinc.com/