How do you restore...?
Question:I have a wooden dining room table that is in great condition. the problem is that I have children that miss the table cloth and place mats every time they eat. This has caused my table to have buildup on it. Is there something i can do to scrape it or have it look brand new again?
Answers:
Hold on!! Stop short of refinishing the entire table top. It is unlikely that food or drink would have completely ruined the finish underneath. The tricky part is removing the "buildup" without ruining the finish.
First of all, try a prolonged soak in a typical cleaning solution like 409, Fantastic, Orange Clean or the like. Then scrub with a plastic scouring pad. If you can sucessfully remove the "buildup" without removing stain, you can simply re-apply a top coat to restore the shine that makes it look new.
If the plastic scouring pad fails, then use a pulling motion with a metal putty knife. Keep the knife as flat to the table as possible to reduce the risk of gouging the surface. Woodworking scrapers are VERY sharp and take practice to use well without leaving scratches or going too deep.
Only after failing with those 2 things would I recommend sanding, and if you do, then sand the whole top and re-finish from scratch. Spot sanding and then trying to match an aged stain to a new stain is no easy task and could be very noticeable.
There is, of course, a $20 solution to having this happen again in the future. Its called a table cloth.
sand the top and apply a matching varnish
You can very lightly with a very fine sandpaper sand it.Very lightly,then put sealer on it.
sand paper and varnish or wood finish, new again
You should clean it right after they do it for less colateral damage, if you have to scrape their food off it , then im afraid you have left the mess for days and your trailer doesnt deserve such a table.sorry
Find someone who's into woodworking or check eBay for the tools. There's a hand tool called a plane, which slides across the surface and carves away the old finish. It can also remove the top of the surface itself if there is no finish. Once the table has been planed, a matching finish can be applied.
There is a took called a wood or furniture scraper. It looks like a flat sheet of steel, usually about three inches by five inches. It has no handle. You grip it with both hands and pull it towards you at an angle from the table surface. Use it carefully, overlap with each stroke so that you don't leave grooves. Sand paper will "fill up" and clog with debris and old finish. A scraper is easier to clean and re use.
Put some cleaner on it like Simple Green or paint thinner. Scrape off anything big with a plastic putty knife. Then scrub whats left. Get some paste wax from a hardware store and use some 3 or 4 ott steel wool to spread the wax. Then buff with a cloth.
Cleaning a wooden table is not difficult.
Most important: Make sure this is a wooden table and not some composite wood. Also, make sure it is not a veneer wood table. You do not want to raise the veneer. That is a total nightmare. So, for a solid wood table:
You did not say what finish is on the table so I presume it is not a polyurethane finish. If it is polyurethane none of the following will work. You have to get a chemical poly remover. I've never done that so I can't help if that is the case. However, if it's an oil or varnish finish here's what I know.
Do it in stages and when the children are NOT in the house.
First step:
Take an old facecloth, dip it in mineral spirits, and gently scrub with the cloth, always following the grain of the wood. (Wear gloves) Do this a few times and this will clean the table effectively. Using fresh face cloths or rags, keep doing this until the rags stop getting filthy looking. With a damp cloth, wipe table all over to get rid of any mineral spirits residue. If the table doesn't look good after this, you have to try something else.
If it doesn't the finish on the table has been damaged. And you may have to refinish the table , then seal it with something durable like polyurethane. DO NOT DO THIS IF THIS IS AN ANTIQUE OR VALUABLE TABLE.
Step two:
Get some denatured alcohol. Pour a little in an aluminum pie plate (Throw away afterwards, do not reuse) and repeat the scrubbing process with a fresh facecloth. Do this gently and again Not when children are at home. Keep all windows open or if possible move table outside. The fumes are not good. What this does is take off the upper layer of whatever finish is on the table. (You may not want to go this far, try it on a leg or unnoticeable place first.
If you don't want to polyurethane the table, if it's antique for example, you can put a Danish oil type finish on the table but with small kids who will always be careless because they are children, you should put down multiple coats of this oil finish.
Disposal! Do not throw these cloths and rags in with your trash. Put them in a can of water outside the house as they could be flammable. Hang them up to dry and then dispose in whatever way the community you live in requires. Just don't store them in the house or garage.
I wish you luck. And don't forget about the fumes.
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