Hi everyone:
My sister-in-law posted the following on our family blog. It’s mostly directed to me as the woodworker in the family, but I don’t have the finishing chops to answer this in confidence. Can anyone help with this, with the information provided, or tell me what more information I need to get? I promise to give you the credit.
“While we were in Chicago, our crack dogsitter, Richard, put the wet newspapers on my front hall table and left them there until we came back. Needless to say, it’s not exactly ruined (except to my eyes), but it’s really a mess. I don’t think it went through to the finish, but rather just messed up the polish and if I could get all the old built up polish off and start again, it would be fine. I don’t need to strip it, just get the polish off. Is there something I could get that would just take off the polish and not strip the finish?”
Thanks in advance for your help.
Replies
It depends somewhat on which polish you have used. A wax based polish will remove with mineral spirits.
Polish
Adirhu
If your Sister-in Law is sure it's only the polish that was harmed - then she could just repolish - no need to remove old polish.
If there is a problem with the finish - that will require a different approach
SA
If it is white marked then it is in the finish, not the wood. Or maybe the polish. As Steve said, she can remove built up polish/wax with mineral spirits. She needs to use a lot of paper towels so she doesn't just "redistribute" the wax and smear it.
BUT it may be water trapped in the finish which may require using another technique. I use Howard's Restor-a-Finish to remove white marks. Steve and others can describe using denatured alcohol VERY judiciously to lift the moisture out of the finish.
Amazing to me that she referred to and differentiated between polish and finish. In all my years as a custom maker I never had anyone (client, friend, colleague) ask me a question about an existing problem "finish" who made this differentiation. Seems to me that since she knows there's a difference perhaps she know more than what she lets on to. hmmmm
In any case, the first question that must be asked here is: what sort of finish is on the table? Lacquer, varnish, oil, etc....
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