Victorian doors dipped in caustic soda - panels now splitting

I'd be inclined to accept the splits as part of the character of the doors. Alternatively you could prise off the mouldings around the affected panel, on both sides, using a wide chisel, then see if you can loosen one of the split sides of the panel in the groove in the stile, and push back together. More drastic would be to prise off the mouldings, remove panel and repair- this is fiddly as you have to remove 3 edges of the panel to get it out - I've recently done this with several Victorian doors where some panels had previously been replaced with plywood, but fortunately I had other sacrificial doors as panel donors.

Don't oil the doors unless you want to darken the colour - depending on your wood you might get a rich golden glow, or a muddy brown. You could experiment on a small bit of one door. If you like the colour they are now, I'd just wax them (Fiddes furniture wax is good).

Yes, Victorian doors were made out of cheap wood and meant to be painted. However, that wood is far better than the crap that B&Q sell (whether or not made into doors) and after 100 years is nicely seasoned. The panels often have an attractive grain pattern - basically you're either a fan of stripped doors or you're not ;-)

Cheers Richard

dry them out slowly instead of suddenly. Remove any paint jamming the panels, if you can. So ideally wait till summer to bring them indoors, assuming they're dry in the shed.

NT