Caring for a USM Haller: everyday chrome and lacquer

Caring for a USM Haller: everyday chrome and lacquer

A USM Haller needs very little looking after, which is one reason so many pieces from the 1970s are still in daily use. It wants no wax, no oil and no specialist product. What it mostly needs is to be spared a handful of habits and products that can do in a single wipe what years of use did not.

What the furniture is made of

The frame combines chrome-plated steel tubes with chrome-plated brass connecting balls. Panels, drop-fronts and drawer fronts are lacquered sheet steel. Some pieces also have glass tops or glass doors.

Chrome and lacquer have different weak points. Chrome dislikes damp and abrasives. Lacquer dislikes solvents, rubbing against metal and harsh cleaners. The care routine follows from that.

Dusting

Dust comes off with a soft, dry cloth, or one that is barely damp. A soft brush deals with corners and joints safely. Avoid synthetic dusters charged with static, which push dust around more than they lift it, and cloths that have been used for other jobs: a single grain of sand caught in the fibres can scratch lacquer.

Lacquer

For fingerprints, rings and rub marks, lukewarm water and a well-wrung soft cloth are enough. On a greasy mark, add a drop of neutral soap, wipe again with a damp cloth, then dry. Work without pressing: lacquer is cleaned, not scrubbed.

A grey mark on a pale panel is often residue from a shoe, a bag or a neighbouring piece of furniture, and it usually comes off with this simple cleaning. Before deciding a panel is scratched, clean it.

Keep away solvents (acetone, white spirit, thinners), alcohol- or ammonia-based products, scouring creams, abrasive sponges, steel wool and abrasive microfibre. They dull the lacquer, change its sheen or scratch it, and that damage does not come out.

Chrome

Chrome is cleaned the same way: lukewarm water, a soft cloth, a drop of neutral soap if needed. The difference is in the drying. Hard water leaves white marks on chrome, so wipe it dry straight afterwards.

The connecting balls, with their several openings, hold more dust than the tubes. A soft brush or a cotton bud clears them without taking anything apart.

If small spots of rust appear, do not scrape them. Surface pitting can be stabilised; corrosion that has gone through the chrome means replacing the tube concerned. Either way, scraping only enlarges the affected area.

Glass

For a glass top or door, ordinary glass cleaner is fine, provided you spray it onto the cloth rather than onto the furniture. Sprayed directly, it runs onto the surrounding lacquer and chrome, and most glass cleaners contain exactly the alcohol or ammonia you are trying to keep off them.

Surroundings

Damp is chrome's enemy. A USM kept in a humid room, against a cold wall, in a cellar or a garage will eventually pit. The furniture needs dry air and a little space between it and the wall.

Long exposure to sunlight can shift a colour, especially when part of the piece stays in shade: an object left in the same spot for a long time leaves its outline on the panel. Moving what sits on top from time to time limits the difference.

Objects placed on top matter too. A metal lamp base, the raw underside of a ceramic, or a plant whose saucer overflows will all mark the lacquer. A felt pad under each object prevents most of this.

Signs that cleaning will not fix

Some symptoms are beyond a cloth.

• A drop-front that no longer closes straight. The frame has twisted. It is almost never serious, but it is corrected by squaring the frame, not by forcing the drop-front.
• A joint that moves. A screw has worked loose, or a thread is worn. Tightening at random can make things worse; you need to know which joint is at fault.
• Bare metal under a chip. Rust will set in. A panel in that state is relacquered in full; a local touch-up would always show.
• A stiff lock. Do not force it: a forced key can bend or damage the drop-front mechanism.

For these, we work on the frame, the joints and the panels, which our partner workshop relacquers using the same process as the original finish; see USM Haller restoration, and USM Haller assembly for squaring a frame. An assessment starts with a few photos sent through the contact form; we reply within one working day.