To be safe, use the synthetic steel wool, like Scotch Brite...Norton Abrasives also makes them in four ranges and I buy them from Woodcraft...from coarse to light: green, maroon, gray, white...these do the same work as steel wool, will not shed into the grain, and generally work better than the steel wool for polishing in a finish....I'd use the maroon variety and turpentine to clean, and the 50/50 turpentine and boiled linseed oil to polish using the gray and then the white...but, depending on how scarred the surface is I might go to the green, but only if absolutely necessary...
Just be careful about rags with BLO and turps, lay them out flat to dry, do not bunch them up or you will find out what spontaneous combustion is all about!!! I had some rags smoking that had BLO and turps on them after wadding them up and dropping them on the floor once...didn't take long, about a half an hour...
You also want to work the oil into the finish and wipe off all surfaces completely between coats...the idea is to get the oil to polymerize in the wood, not on the surface....if you get a surface build up you might as well have varnished it....
Just be careful about rags with BLO and turps, lay them out flat to dry, do not bunch them up or you will find out what spontaneous combustion is all about!!! I had some rags smoking that had BLO and turps on them after wadding them up and dropping them on the floor once...didn't take long, about a half an hour...
You also want to work the oil into the finish and wipe off all surfaces completely between coats...the idea is to get the oil to polymerize in the wood, not on the surface....if you get a surface build up you might as well have varnished it....
