Chandeliers or toenails?

Today I'm cleaning the old chandeliers. They are really nasty dirty. I'm surprised they still work.

There are three crystal chandeliers in the house - a big one in the old dining room (which will become the kitchen), a medium-sized one in the foyer, and a smaller one in the owner's bathroom/kitchen (which will become a study/den/library/or something). They are so dirty that David just wanted to throw them out. But I insisted they could be cleaned, and if they're really crystal, they might be valuable.

How can you tell if it's really crystal and not some genuine artificial faux crystal-like product?

Doug helped us load up the chandeliers in our truck when he was here on July 5 so we could take them home and work on them in air-conditioned comfort. Ever since then, the big one has been strung up between two sawhorses in the kitchen. And there it sat for the last three weeks.

It's really tedious and cleaning things is not really my thing so it's easy to procrastinate. To make it more enjoyable, I've been listening to the classic rock radio station. (When did my generation's music become classic?) And I was thinking, what would I be doing today if we didn't have this big old house to work on? The first thing I thought of was how I'd like to be at the nail salon having someone paint my toenails while I do the crossword puzzle.

My attempts to clean so far have involved the vacuum cleaner, soap and water, glass cleaner, a rag and a tiny paintbrush. Unfortunately, some of the little wires that hold the crystals together are so fragile that they fall apart in my hand as I'm trying to clean them. I guess I'll figure out how to fix those later. You must be able to buy chandelier replacement parts on the internet, right? You can buy almost anything from the cyberworld store.

The crystals look pretty clean now but the black wrought iron doesn't look so good. Can it be painted? Or would it negatively affect the value if it's an antique? Maybe I should just leave it kinda dull looking. Besides, they're really old and it might keep the flavor of oldness in the house.

Either way, when the house is done and we can finally invite our friends and family to visit, I'll make sure they look up at the chandeliers and see how clean they are - and hope they don't notice the old chipped polish on my toenails.

Susan