ANSWER: Pledge™ is an excellent product when used properly, as are most spray furniture polishes. The trick is knowing when and how to use them. These silicone-based polishes do not, themselves, build up on wood surfaces- in fact, they're formulated so that each application dissolves the previous one as you polish. The "polish buildup" often seen on neglected and abused Mid-Century furniture is actually good old-fashioned dirt. Many people try to apply spray polish to dusty and dirty furniture, never understanding that a mixture of dirt and polish is not going to get anything clean. Worse, many people polish lazily, not rubbing hard enough to remove all excess polish and harden the protective surface they've just tried to put down. Here's how you use a spray polish correctly:

· Clean the furniture.
You should vacuum a piece of furniture before you apply any sort of polish, oil, "wood treatment", or wax. This gives you a dust-free surface. If any other dirt, such as food debris or heavy fingermarking, remains on the surface, use a little Murphy's™ Oil Soap and water to wash it away. Use a sponge, and wring it dry as possible before touching it to the wood. When you're done, rub the surface with an old bath towel to dry it, then allow the furniture to air-dry for a day before polishing.
· Spray lightly and sparingly.
You don't need to spray a thick coat of polish- in fact, it's wasteful, since most of what you put down is going to get rubbed off in the next step.
· Rub twice, and rub hard.
You should rub with one cloth to spread the polish evenly, and to get up all excess polish. Then use a second cloth to rub hard, to "set" the polish and harden its surface. You'll know when you're done, because the cloth will begin to glide easily, instead of "hanging up" on a still-wet surface.
· Don't overdo polishing.
Four to six times a year is plenty in most climates. In between polishings, refresh the shine by vacuuming, and then re-buffing the polish with a soft, dry cloth.
· Got buildup?
You can get rid of buildup you already have, in most instances, with Murphy's Oil Soap and water, used as directed above. If buildup is really heavy and cruddy, mineral spirits will generally do the trick, but test the mineral spirits in an inconspicuous place first.
· Know when spray polishes shouldn't be used.
They shouldn't be used on Scandinavian oil-and-wax finishes (pieces made in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway often have this type of finish); those pieces should be waxed with paste wax instead. And very old finishes sometimes react badly to sprays. It's always a good idea to test in an inconspicuous spot first. Most Fifties and Sixties finishes are lacquer, though, and they handle spray polishes just fine.

ANSWER: A product that can work wonders in these situations is Lexol™, a leather conditioner sold for use on the leather upholstery in fine automobiles. The conditioning process begins with cleaning; Lexol makes a cleaner for the purpose. Once the cleaning is accomplished, and the surface is dry again, the actual conditioner is applied. Lexol recommends several light conditionings to bring flexibility and shine back to the leather, rather than one heavy application. The exception is when leather is extremely dry; heavy coats can be used for these situations. Lexol is sold in most auto-parts stores like Pep Boys™ and AutoZone™, and in better hardware stores. Visit the manufacturer's Website at www.lexol.com for full instructions and more information.

You should use Lexol on your Eames Lounge right away, before any further cracking takes place. Once leather cracks all the way through, there is nothing that can repair the damage satisfactorily, except reupholstering. The tiny cracks you mention will not be removed by Lexol, but use of the product will go a long way towards seeing they don't get any worse, and the appearance of the chair will be greatly improved. If your lounge's leather is tan, Lexol may darken it slightly, but darker is better than cracked through, any day.

I have seen a leather interior in an older Rolls-Royce™ brought from very bad, dry condition to a very handsome, presentable state by the use of Lexol. The seats were so dry that I would have thought re-upholstering was the only possible solution, but they were returned to a supple, usable, attractive condition by this means. I have been consistently pleased- and in some cases astounded- by the results when I've used it on furniture leather. I have not found another product that worked as well.

ANSWER: Sit down, because I have news you probably don't want to hear. Plastic, as a man-made material, is prone to breaking down over time, and it does not release stains and discoloration easily, if at all. What is happening with your Tupperware™ is not something on its surface; the plastic itself is breaking down. This process is irreversible, unfortunately. The only thing you can do is to look for other examples of the designs you've collected, that do not yet exhibit signs of breakdown. When you find what you're looking for, storing your collectibles in a cool, dry place out of sunlight will extend their life significantly. The earliest Tupperware products have already lasted far longer than anyone could have imagined in 1945, when inventor Earl Tupper created them.

Your Weltron is probably a victim of that great Sixties and Seventies pollutant, cigarette smoke. Tobacco smoke is slightly oily (the "tar" we've all heard about), and plastics have a great tendency to attract and hold stains from anything oily, since they themselves are made from oil, usually petrochemical. The staining process is actually a small-scale chemical reaction. I've never found or heard of anything that will remove this stain, since it penetrates into the plastic. There are people who claim to be able to refinish a Weltron's plastic with paint to get the surface white again, but a high-quality job requires complete, and somewhat risky, disassembly of the entire unit. It can also be detected by an experienced collector, so the value of the unit can be compromised. My advice is to clean the unit with a mild detergent, being careful not to have the rag or sponge too wet, and to live with the discoloration. Think of it as a historic patina- a relic of a time when smoking was something everybody did- and as a reminder that something that does that much damage to tough plastic can't possibly help your lungs.

Once in a while, Soft Scrub™ With Bleach will make a huge improvement on white plastics that haven't been exposed to cigarette smoke, but generally speaking, smoke is the culprit, and there's not really anything you can do about it. I'd test Soft Scrub in a hidden area, and if it does not make an improvement, I'd refrain from using it on the rest of the appliance. You should always clean collectibles by the gentlest means possible; what makes a rare item look great today can, in some instances, damage it tomorrow. Since few of us are chemists, erring on the side of safety is always advisable.

I'm sorry not to have better news for you.