I've been asked if this is a difficult process. As a result, I'm going to provide a little more detail here of what we actually did.

When we got the loom settled into its temporary home and the warp cut off, we took a good look at it to see if everything worked - played with the flying shuttle, the beater, the harnesses, etc. The functionality check was good, and then we looked at what needed to be replaced. The canvas apron was in really bad shape and not useable due to rodent damage, so our friend removed it and made a new one with grommets, then put it on the front beam.

We used Murphy's Oil Soap in warm water and some rags, and washed the loom and dried it to get rid of the dust and grease. We had access to an air compressor and vacuum and used them to blow out the lint and vacuum up the fuzz balls. Dental picks helped us get into the reed (which needs a good coat of naval jelly to get rid of the rust) and other parts that had lint and grease and pick it out.

Once the loom was clean, we used a mix of 50/50 mineral spirits and linseed oil and wiped down every wooden piece with a rag to help restore the wood and remove any remaining grease. The mineral spirits helped clean the metal pieces as well. We'll need to regrease the harness holder (probably the wrong term but it's the metal brackets that the harnesses are in on the loom) so they raise and lower easily. The harnesses were easy to remove and reinstall and the heddles are in surprisingly good shape for as old as it is. We wiped the harnesses down as well. In the process, we're looking for damage and anything that needs to be replaced. The assembled loom is in surprisingly good shape.

One of our biggest constraints is space. The loom's temporary home is just that, temporary. The disassembled loom is taking up space in our friends' workshop and to get to it and determine if it's complete and what parts/pieces might need repair, we're going to have to work around the assembled loom. We already know we need new picker straps and boot heels (leather bumper pads for the flying shuttle), so our next step with the disassembled loom is going to be removing the wooden pieces from their boxes, determining if all the parts are there, cleaning the beam assemblies and the reed, the harnesses, etc. We'll use the same process of Murphy's Oil Soap and then a 50/50 mix of linseed oil and mineral spirits to clean and help restore the wood, and naval jelly to remove rust. The vacuum and blower will be very useful in removing dust and lint.

We can't assemble the disassembled loom until the assembled one goes to a new home, so that may be a few weeks.

These are some amazing pieces of handweaving history, and we're happy to have them and be able to restore them to some of their former glory.