Expert: Eileen Cronk - 5/21/2008

Question
I have a pair of older teak wall units that I would occasionally coat with teak oil,, however my cleaning lady has put on numerous coats of pledge, this has now created a hard finish but the finish is rough I suspect this was done prior to dusting, for that is what it feels like ,,I want to simply take the pledge coating off and try to reseal it with teak oil,, however "restore a finish" and light steel wool doesn't even touch it thanx for your help

Answer
Hi Terry
Nice to hear from you.
Sounds to me like you are using the wrong product for this job.
Get a can of mineral spirits (sold as varsol in Canada) and a box of medium steel wool pads (not SOS pads).
Dip the steel wool pads in the mineral spirits and give the cabinet a good scrub all over.
This will remove all the crap the cleaning lady applied LOL.
And throw the pledge away too so she won't use it again LOL.
Dry with clean rags as you go.
Then apply your oil.
Easy fix and the proper one too.
Great question
Regards
Eileen