Originally Posted by
drcollie
Steve is absolutely right. With all the various finishing systems in place by manufacturers, and the huge amount of cleaning/care products on the market, the only safe bet is plain water (except on pure shellac surfaces).
Having said that, I use 'OZ' polish on most everything in the store, and use it pre-delivery as well. It's non-silicone, so less reactive and damaging than products like PLEDGE, etc, and it goes on very fast, has an instant dry time, and lasts about 6 weeks. Going to be hard to find, I have to order it from a Wholesale Jobber that only sells to the trade (Mohawk Finishing Products). Customer love it, so I have it in the store priced at $ 11.95 a can. Some come in an buy a dozen cans at a time!
For special pieces in my home, I'll invest the time every few years to put a coat of tinted paste wax on it, and polish it that way. That takes about 5x longer to do than a spray on product like OZ, so I only do it for my high end items that are considered collector pieces.