Hi,
I'm currently restoring the cabinet of a lovely 1931 Emmco Console set.
It seems to have an original shellac finish - but, I'm assuming polished over with furniture wax.
If I wet it down with Meths and wipe it down, theres a white residue on the surface.
I'm assuming this is furniture wax.
Is there a way to get the wax off - or is it just keep persisting with metho, wire wool and a cloth to wipe it off?

Could I suggest that you have a read of the postings by Vintage Pete, right here in the Cabinet Repairs section?

Pete is the guru. You won't find better advice.

However, metho will always make shellac go white. I'm sure Pete says something about this.

One must be careful as to what you use on cabinets, Wood or Plastic. Soda Ash which can often be found in powder detergent will attack Bakelite and Metho will also attack Acrylic paint and Nitrocellulose finish ruining it. Nitrocellulose film, like that used in dial faces starts de-composing from day one & it the Nitrogen compounds that send it brown.

The correct way to remove all wax and silicone from a shellac, Nitro, polyurethane, ,oil varnish is as follows.

1I wipe the compete cabinet down with
Prepsol or diggers wax and grease remover.
2 you must then remove the wax and grease remover.
So you wipe the complete cabinet down with mineral Turps using it to on damp cloth
These two steps are completely safe ,
If the finish is poly ,? Leave off the first step and just use mineral Turps . safe.
Always use a white cotton cloth ,no other colours! This is very important , because you can see what is going on and what is coming off.
Also if you use a cloth that is not white ,colours can come out of the cloth and onto the cabinet.
It's important to put a polish back onto the finish and this must be silicon free.
Good luck with your Cabinet.
Pete ...