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washington
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.thursday,
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homeBY JEANNE HUBERQ: I h ave a solid o ak dining t able
with finish that has w orn o ff i n
several places. I u se Johnson
paste wax on it a few times a year,
as directed by the f urniture
maker. This doesn’t h elp t he worn
places. What can I do to restore
the finish?
FairfaxA: There might be a way to touch
up t he worn a reas, o r you might
need t o refinish t he table. The
best a pproach depends partly on
how much finish has worn off and
what type o f finish it is — and
partly on whether you are seeking
a quick f ix that makes the table
look better or are willing to tackle
a b igger job t o be sure of g etting a
“like-new” l ook.
If only a few small areas a re
worn, try evening out the color b y
rubbing on a tinted wax, such a s
Howard Citrus-Shield Premium
Paste Wax. G olden Oak ( $15.8 4
from Amazon) o r Dark Oak
would probably work best,
although this w ax also c omes i n
Walnut, Mahogany and Neutral.
Or y ou could t ry u sing a
product that combines s olvent,
oil and stain and is designed to
penetrate into f aded finishes a nd
restore the o riginal c olor, such a s
Howard Restor-A-Finish in
Golden Oak or Dark Oak ($7.99
from Amazon). Restor-A-Finish
works with wax, o il, shellac,
lacquer a nd varnish — but not
polyurethane. To identify the
finish, you can go t hrough a series
of t ests: You can scratch with a
fingernail (it leaves a mark o n a
wax finish), add a drop o f linseed
oil (it dissolves i nto an oil finish),
or dab w ith d enatured a lcohol (it
quickly softens shellac but t akes a
while t o soften lacquer). For the
final test, dab with acetone o n a
cotton swab. Varnish will g et
gummy. (So would shellac, b utyou will have a lready ruled that
out.) Lacquer will come off
completely, but acetone won’t
have any effect on polyurethane.
If the f inish isn’t p olyurethane
and you want to try R estor-A-
Finish, choose a mong t he n ine
available colors t o get the closest
color m atch. You can mix c olors —
Golden Oak with Dark Oak, for
example — but before you b uy
two cans, you might want t o test
whether the l ighter of t he two
colors makes a substantial
difference. If you think y ou might
want to apply a clear f inish over
the whole t abletop later, wipe off
excess Restor-A-Finishimmediately, rather than letting
it soak in, and avoid u sing
polyurethane for the clear coat.
If trying to disguise the worn
areas d oesn’t work, o r if you want
to skip a ll the testing and j ust
tackle refinishing, begin by
looking u nder t he table and
figuring out whether you c an
detach the top from t he legs. I f
you can carry t he top o utside or
into your garage, you can support
it on s awhorses and d o the messy
work there. Leaving the legs
behind makes the top easier to
maneuver, and you probably
don’t w ant to refinish the legs
anyway, e specially if they haveintricate details.
You have two options for
removing the old finish: sanding
it off or removing it with a
chemical s tripper. Sanding has
the advantage of avoiding nasty
chemicals. Stripping has t he
benefit of resulting in a more
level surface because there is n o
danger of sandpaper d igging in
unevenly depending on whether
it’s h itting the o ld finish, which is
relatively hard, o r bare w ood,
which i s softer.
Although you think your table
is solid oak, i t makes sense to
inspect i t carefully b efore
proceeding because it could h avean oak veneer o ver particleboard
or other material. Even tables
that appear to be made f rom
wooden planks glued together a re
often made with v eneers because
veneered t abletops tend to s tay
flatter. Check b y following a line
where two planks on t he table
appear to be glued together. If the
line does not continue around the
edge o f the t abletop a nd across
the bottom, i t’s probably veneer
(unless a piece o f molding has
been attached, in w hich case you
can still check whether there are
matching straight l ines across the
top and bottom where pieces
appear to be glued together).
If you decide to use a c hemical
stripper on a veneered t able, d o a
test first to make sure t he stripper
doesn’t d issolve t he glue t hat
holds t he veneer in place.
Sanding a veneered t able also
takes special attention: You need
to make sure you d on’t s and
through the veneer, which might
be paper-thin.
To s and o ff o ld finish, a coarse
grit — around 80 — will quickly
get through to the wood. Then
you need t o get out t he scratches
you made with finer and finer
grits, moving from 1 00 to around
220.
Whether you strip or sand,
once you have removed a ll of the
finish, w ipe off the dust or
stripper residue (following
instructions on the stripper l abel
if you are using that).
You then have the option o f
whatever finish y ou wish. If you
want to darken the color before
you apply a f inish, c onsider
applying a wood conditioner first
so the s tain more evenly colors
the wood. have a problem i n your home?
Send questions to
[email protected]. put “how
to” in the subject line, tell us where
you live and try to include a photo.how toMake a worn oak table look like new with touch-ups or a total redo
reader photo
A reader wants to restore the finish of this oak table. Choosing whether to patch or redo the table
will depend on how much finish has worn off, the type of finish and how much time you want to spend.columnists:
adrian higgins, Meghan Leahy
email: l [email protected]
telephone: 202-334-440 9
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