Replies

1. 
   saschafer | Feb 06, 2008 07:02am | #1

   Are you sure the table hasn't been refinished? What you're describing sounds exactly like "fish eyes," a problem that can occur when applying a new finish over a piece of furniture that has been cleaned/polished with something containing silicones.

   -Steve

    

1. 
   pocketscrew | Feb 06, 2008 07:12am | #2

   no. It was not refinished. It looks like something was wiped on because it is in the shape of a swipe that looks like left over watermarks. However when you run your finger nail over the area you can feel the marks or bubbles are openings in the finish. The reason I do not know is that I bought the table from the original owner at a moving sale an didn't see it in her lighting. I thought maybe I could clean the table, strip off the wax, and run a thin coat of wiping varnish or wiping lacquer over that portion of the table to fill the holes and mask them.

1. 
   saschafer | Feb 06, 2008 07:32am | #3

   How big are the individual marks?

   At this point, I would be hesitant to do anything without having a better understanding of what actually happened to the finish.

   -Steve

    

1. 
   pocketscrew | Feb 06, 2008 08:23am | #4

   The marks are small. For example, lets say you took a damp wet cloth over a finished piece of furniture and swiped it over the furniture. It would leave little water droplets over the shiny finish. That is what it looks like only it is not water but some type of liquid that was allowed to dry in its place that ate into the finish leaving it rough and cloudy but only where the droplets would have formed. If you look at from the side with direct light on it appears the table is wet only it is in the finish.

1. 
   saschafer | Feb 06, 2008 04:46pm | #7

   At this point, unless you know exactly what kind of finish is there, and how deep the damage is, I have to agree that a repair is likely to look worse than what you've already got, and that a complete refinishing would be the way to go. Most commercial finishes are not amenable to large-scale repair.

   -Steve

    

2. 
   Gretchen | Feb 06, 2008 05:02pm | #8

   I so agree with this post. A factory finish is just not repairable, in my opinion. I basically need my dining room table to be refinished and would not think of doing it myself, in spite of a lot of experience doing just that.

   I wonder if the OP has tried to clean this well with mineral spirits.  I sort of agree that it might well be nail polish remover (acetone).  A table runner can be a wonderful solution.Gretchen

3. 
   SteveSchoene | Feb 06, 2008 07:11pm | #9

   I agree about commercial finishes.  If it were just a clear NC lacquer on unstained wood it would be fairly easy, with the main challenge being to match the sheen on the repair to the rest.  It would likely all have to be rubbed out, but that's not hard. 

   But, odds are that it's not just clear lacquer.  It's quite likely that the wood has had dye and stain applied and that some of the top coats are actually toned finishes.  If you strip commercial furniture you often find woods that aren't matched very well and these manipulations are needed to achieve the evenness that factories believe is necessary, despite the loss clarity of the wood grain and figure.   

2. 
   philip | Feb 06, 2008 09:28am | #5

   Can you not show a picture, otherwise there will be a lot of unnecessary speculation.....

   Philip Marcou
3. 
   bigfootnampa | Feb 06, 2008 04:06pm | #6

   Most likely it was damaged by nail polish remover... I see this type of damage often.  Repair will involve refinishing the whole top or patching the damaged area of finish.  The patching is a tough fix involving lots of skills and complicated processes... I don't reccommend that route unless you are already an expert finisher.  Refinishing the whole top is fairly easy though and you can use polyurethane varnish (or any other clear finish) which will be a big upgrade from the lacquer finish that is probably what you've got now.