Waxing
Waxing
Waxing
Waxing
Waxing
Waxing
Waxing
Waxing
Waxing
Waxing

FAQ's Victoriana Southsea

We get asked a lot of questions about our various ranges of oak, painted and pine furniture. Please have a look through the questions and answers on this page, and if you want to know more, please contact the Southsea shop or e-mail us and we will be happy to help.

How do I take care of my furniture?
Taking care of the furniture you have often depends on what type of finish has been placed on it. If you have purchased any of our pine ranges or pine antiques the chances are, unless you have specified otherwise, there will be a waxed finish to the wood. As wax is not water or heat proof, and due to pine being a soft wood, you will often find small scratches or marks on the surface.

If this does occur, or if you just fancy giving your furniture a general clean and polish, we recommend a bee’s wax furniture polish such as Bri-wax or Fiddes, both available from any of our shops. Firstly, apply the wax with a paintbrush or old duster, or 0000 grade fine wire wool (if you wish to remove scratches), and apply an even amount of wax on the furniture, always ensuring that you go with the grain of the wood (NOT ACROSS IT). After applying evenly to the surface you wish to polish, buff the excess wax off with either a waxing brush or old duster.

Finally, give the surface a final buff off with a soft duster or cloth to give a nice shine to the piece. If you have any further questions on how to take care of your furniture, or about any of the oak, ash or pine ranges, please don’t hesitate to contact the shop or one of our restorers with over 50 years of experience between them who will be happy to help you further. If you have purchased from one of our oak or ash ranges they will probably have a sealed or lacquered finish to them already, this makes them heat and water proof. As all of our oak and ash ranges are solid woods they are very resistant to scratches and general damage.

If you have a piece of oak or ash that is not sealed or lacquered it will have an oil base finish to it, which is also water and heat proof, and can be re-oiled using furniture oil available from us to give it shine. Remember any questions about any of our ranges please do not hesitate to contact us.

How do I clean wooden furniture?
We do not recommend the use of any types of furniture polish on any of our products (including those that claim to be ok to use e.g. Pledge). As mentioned in the previous section the best way to take care and clean your furniture is dependent on what type of wood it is. We recommend just dusting the furniture to generally keep it clean and waxing or oiling every 6 months, or whenever you feel it needs it.

What types of wood do you use?
Victoriana specialises in many different types of solid wood. Our ranges are constructed using solid pine, beech, oak, ash, teak, bur wood, elm, mahogany and walnut. We can also provide furniture with a variety of painted finishes, including many of the Farrow and Ball collection of painted finishes.

Where is your wood sourced from?
All our wood is from sustainable, managed forests. We do not use rare woods from natural rainforests, although there are some arguments over the best ways of preserving the world's natural forests. We also provide the perfect sustainable solution in the form of our antique pine and mahogany furniture, genuinely recycled for over 100 years!

I want an item of furniture to fit an oddly-shaped room. Can you help?
Yes, of course we can. We can customise or commission nearly any piece of furniture you can imagine in either solid pine or oak, or in any of our painted finishes. The item can be made in either more modern shaker styles or in a more traditional style. The best way to have something customised is to measure the area it has to fit into and come into the Southsea shop and discuss it with our experienced and friendly staff.  Alternatively e-mail the dimensions of the piece and what you wish to have built, along with your contact details and we will get back to you with a quote.

How much does it cost for you to design furniture especially for me?
Prices for these one-off jobs vary considerably according to materials you choose, the finish you require and the complexity of the design required. As a result the best method of determining a price for any specially made items is to contact the main Southsea shop with dimensions and specifications, or to email them to us, and we will get a quote for you and contact you back.  Items that are made to measure are not necessarily substantially more expensive than standard items so don’t be afraid, contact us and get a no obligation quote and have that piece of furniture to fit those awkward places. 

How do I get to your showroom?
Our Southsea shops and warehouse are located near to the Southsea shopping precinct in Palmerstone road and not far from the Kings theatre in Albert Road.

Our branch in Petersfield is in Station road and about 2 minutes drive from the train station. Please go to the ‘contact’ page and click on any of the shops you wish to visit to find a map directing you to us. Alternatively please contact any of our shops and they will be happy to provide you with directions. 

How long do I have to wait for delivery and how much does it cost?
As our ranges come from many different suppliers the turnaround period depends on the item you have ordered. As a general rule allow 4-6 weeks for most items, including specially made items. In some cases, especially with some of our imported oak ranges the delivery times can often take slightly longer as they have to be shipped. This can take up to 8-10 weeks. If you require information about any of the turnaround times for any of our ranges please contact any of the shops, or email us and we will be happy to help.

Can I see colour samples of your wood finishes?
Yes, we have many samples of wood at our Southsea shop - and we are happy to advise on the appropriate wood to suit your needs.