Plastic ruined Rosewood table – help!
Hi everyone –
We have a Rosewood table that we made the mistake of putting a plastic cover on. We purchased it secondhand. The prior owner said it was “unvarnished” and was naturally finished with no urethane coating, just stain and light waxing. (I included a picture of under the table).
The plastic cover has left very shiny blotches all over the top of the table. Hopefully you can see them from the photos (they are much worse in person than they look inthe photos). They don’t come off with gentle nail scratching and they aren’t sticky. But gone is the beautiful matte surface we were trying to protect. I believe we’ve been a victim of plasticizer migration.
Any ideas on how to fix this? I have zero experience working with wood but am incredibly handy and patient.
Thank you!
Replies
There are several different varieties of Rosewood (Burmese, Brazilian, East Indian, Honduran, etc.). I can't tell from the photos from which one your table is made. You said the sellers stated it was unfinished. Did you finish it? If so with what? If it is still unfinished it may be the natural oils in the wood. Many of the Rosewoods are very oily. Wipe the entire table down with acetone. If the wood is unfinished it won't hurt it. Acetone generally doesn't hurt raw wood. If it is finished, be careful it may damage the finish.
I know it was made in India, so I would assume East Indian Rosewood, but I am not positive. I went back and looked at the information I have from the seller and he said it was "unvarnished" and was naturally finished with no urethane coating, just stain and light waxing. The prior owner used 50/50 vinegar/water solution to clean the table and used teak oil to maintaining it. That's all the information I have from the prior owner.
Thank you for your help!
I think the key here is "unvarnished" is not "unfinished" if he used "teak oil" on it. Others are more expert than I am about teak oil, but I think it is either identical or similar to boiled linseed oil, which is a penetrating oil finish. I just googled it, and each manufacturer has their own recipe, typically linseed oil, tung oil, varnish, and mineral spirits as a thinner. Nothing to do with teak wood; it's a marketing ploy. Rather than plasticizer migration, it is probably migration of the teak oil to the surface of the table, in different amounts in different places. The plastic would trap it. First thing to try would be to wipe it down with mineral spirits on a clean rag. If that doesn't even things out, try lacquer thinner or acetone. By the way, if you set anything warm/hot down on the plastic when it was on the table, that could have warmed the teak oil and encouraged the migration to the surface. Best of luck!
Harvey
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