My wooden kitchen table is always sticky even after I clean it.?
Question:It is about 13 years old. Should I strip it and refinish it? What products do I need to use?
Answers:
Try Murphy's Oil Soap on it. If that doesn't do the trick, strip it and refinish it. If you fry foods like meat or whatever, you are getting grease splatters on it, you can't see it but it scatters all over your kitchen in the "steam" that comes off the food. No matter how careful you are, this is going to happen. Try keeping a tablecloth on the table when it's not in use to protect it and take off the cloth when eating if you like the look of the wood. HOT SOAPY WATER is the best grease cleaner. If grease gets in the wood, the oil soap cleaner will clean it. When I worked at Pizza Hut, years ago, they were going to throw away their beautiful dark wooden high chairs. I asked them to get Murphy's oil soap and I gave them a scrub. They looked brand new when I got done. (I got employee of the month right after that, oddly enough!).
What are you washing it with?
Try using a different product.
it's the varnish that's sticky. That wood should never have been washed or had anything on it like windex or vinegar, but over time it either has been washed or has had liquid spilled on it or it's just humid where you live that has caused the varnish to get sticky.
If you have the time then buy varnish or paint remover (of course you'd do this outdoors on a cool day, maybe in the morning, using gloves and working on newspaper, having lots of rags. You'd put on that remover, wait the time allotted, then wipe off and throw away the gooey rags on the same day of garbage pickup...so time your job accordingly. Then you could stain the table with wood stain of your choice, and then, and this is the important part, there is another covering that is like a plastic coating you put on it a couple of times ...with drying time in-between). You can't choose a warm day like I did when I was doing this project because the stain would dry on your brush even before you got it onto the wood. So a cool day is mandatory. You can go to Walmart and find the stain and remover in their paint department. Threre aren't a lot of brand names in this line but what is there works well. Or, you can go to Home Depot and ask for their advice and suggestions. Or, you could buy the product online.
I have an oak table and I use a liquid polish on it about 4 times a year. If It it gets sticky, I know it's time to polish it. Let it dry before using it again!
I do use place mats or a table cloth too!
Maggie
More Related Questions & Answers...