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Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks/110 year old 5 leg wood table top finish

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Expert: - 11/29/2008


Question
I decided to clean and reoil my table top. I sprayed it with Windex to remove all of the crude. Then I removed the solution with a scrubber sponge. It sure is clean! Oh, help! I cleaned it so good I completely dried out the surface. I have been oiling it with my usual lemon oil. The problem is I have been oiling it for two weeks every day and it still is very dry. The surface is rough in a lot of places and looks really bad. I am frustrated and feel bad. Can you sugggest any thing to help restore the oiled finish?

Answer
Hi Marilyn, oooooo, you should never have used Windex to clean a wood surface like this...a little mineral spirits and MAYBE some 0000 steel wool is all that it should need, and you never want to scrub all the patina out of the surface on a true Antique. The Lemon oil (NOT), is mostly white mineral oil and solvent, and will not build up like a real finish will. It will just keep soaking in. What you needed to do was use an oil finish, like Danish oil, or a Tung oil finish. These are drying oil finishes, unlike mineral oil, and they penetrate into the wood fibers and harden, building like a traditional finish depending on how many coats you apply. Each coat will dry in 12-24 hours, and then you can apply another. The real problem now is you've put so much of the non drying oil on there, it will interfere with the oil finish and so it needs to be removed, and that won't be easy now....you really should strip it with some stripper, so as to get down deep and dissolve the mineral oil. It will take some work, and some waiting, and probably a light sanding, for real drying and prep of the surface before you'll be able to apply the correct finish. Unfortunately, you have removed all of the patina and age with your aggressive cleaning now, so the wood surface will look pretty sterile, a shame for such an Antique as this. You can stain it and there are ways to make it look old again, but these are pretty advanced staining/glazing techniques.....not for the novice. I sure wish you'd written in before you took such drastic actions....post back if need be- regards- Greg

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Greg Scholl

Expertise

Questions on Woodworking, wood finishing and refinishing of all kinds, repairing furniture and wooden objects, Architectural details, Woodturning, carving, tool usage, product usage, some chemistry as it applies to woodworking and related interests,cabinet making and furniture construction/design, etc. I have experience with all manners of colorants, finishes, paints, stains, dyes, glazes, and coatings, wood species recognition and usage,tool recommendations, blade types and recommendation,techniques and methods for many Woodworking related issues, etc.

Experience

Fine furniture restorer and cabinet maker for over 30 years,serving high end Antique dealers, Interior designers, Collectors in the CT area. Consulting for area Painting/Decorating and Building contractors on non painting issues..(staining, wood prep.,clear finishing, floor restoration and architectural detail restoration and repair, etc.) Sold, built, serviced, setup Home, Industrial, and Commercial stationary woodworking tools for a major tool retailer in CT. for three years, sold hand and power tools , provided knowledge, parts replacement, service, and on site service, Trade show Demo, and training as well.

Publications
Published in Fine Woodworking Magazine (12/97), included on Fine Woodworkings first "Best of Fine Woodworking" CD-ROM (2002) ...("27 year compilation of expert know-how")

Education/Credentials
Art School at Silvermine Guild in Norwalk, CT., 9 year apprenticeship in a European run Cabinet and Restoration shop in CT., various classes on subjects having to do with the field. Seminars from major Tool manufacturers, Skil/Bosch, Delta, Powermatic, Ritter, Porter cable, Milwaukee, Dewalt/B&Decker, Performax.

Past/Present Clients
Many varied clients including work on Martha Stewarts' Westport, CT. show house, many fine Antique dealers and private collectors in and around Fairfield County and in Woodbury, CT. (the Antiques capital of CT.), Golden Age of Trucking Museum, Wilton Historical Society.

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