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A litre of linseed oil lasts a LONG time. I'm on my second bottle since I discovered the stuff 10 years ago.

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Yes, LOL, I had a quart for about that long. There's nothing like a hand rubbed linseed oil finish.

Doesn't linseed oil get "nasty" after a while, and wont dry?? Or do you mean "Boiled linseed oil"? I'm led to believe the boiled stuff has some varnish in it.. The raw stuff goes rancid..

I use the raw stuff. From day one, it has a vaguely fish-like smell. After 5 years, the last few drops worked as well as the first.

BLO is a much modified product - solvents and petrochemicals along with linseed oil. It does dry faster, but is more of a finish, and less of an oil.

BLO is somewhat toxic, linseed oil isn't.

J

If a piece of furniture has that heavy buildup that you can actually scratch off with your fingernail, or that kind of buildup that feels awful in the humid weather, then it needs to be cleaned with mineral spirits.
Soap and water just does not cut it on this dirt.
If the piece is fairly clean, a waxing yearly is all thats needed.
And if you do use furniture polish, choose one without silicone.

Henry Williams
Remodeling wood work
Texas

Warning: The highlighted link is spam.
Although unlike most other posts containing spam links this one actually makes sense.

all of the above and none of the above. In my mind, 1920 is not old, but getting there. Many of the finishes used in mass production will degrade. Most have become gummy, dirty, etc. There is little that will clean them except stripping. And that can be done carefully. You need to figure out what the old finish is.

Shellac will quickly dissolve in alcohol. Lacquer will soften in lacquer thinner. Varnish is probably one of the old finishes that is stable, but even that will dissolve with something like Formula 409 after 80+years. There were many proprietary finishes used that have no easy definition.

If you want to make the furniture usable, strip it, but do it gently. DO NOT send it out to a stripper. You won't recognize what comes back!!!!

Using a little liquid dish soap and water.This will be helpful for you...

Never "blast them with a hose" . If the finish is awful, heavy and cracked, a bit of half alcohol and half lacquer thinner with a fine steel wool pad will remove yuck leaving patina. Then finish how you want.