Fulgour said:
The wood is called "Shesham" and it is a kind of Teak~
it's very durable and and can be cleaned and restored
with good results. Some I've left with a raw finish look.
I've seen some of these boxes around too, though I use only cloth bags for my cards.
I once had a jewellery box made of Sheesham (I guess its the same wood we are talking about here). These boxes sure need to be cleaned before use.
Fulgour said:
I think they use brown shoe polish to finish them
Its not a shoe polish but the wood polish stains out of some boxes.
Authentic and good quality ones however do not have these issues and are ready to use.
I let my Dad do this stuff as he can identify these stuff better than I can.
catlin said:
I don't know what kind of wood the box was made of, I am not sure if it would be real Santal wood, it does not smell like that).
Ahh how much I wish to buy an authentic Sandal Wood box for my cards but they are way too expensive for me right now.
Btw, Sandal Wood stuff are the ones that are faked most... with ordinary wood and some perfumed paint to make it smell of sandal.