Cleaning Old Oak

[Tom Tumbleson]

I must admit I am no accomplished woodworker.

I was just given an old oak, round, dining table. It was a gift to
my parents from my grandmother on their first weddng anniversary in 1947.
It cost my Grandmother the "amazing" sum of $2,50 !! Today it would cost you that much or more in gasoline to just view it!
.
Anyway, I need some advice on how to clean it....it has 60 years of polish, dust, etc. 'driven' into its surface. One person on this form suggets using Murphy's Oil while another says Murphy's Oil is water based and that might ruin the surface.
.
I actually don't know which kind of oak it is??? It has a real golden color but I know so loittle about wood, that might just be the finish???
.
Can anyone help me in finding out a wasy to deep clean it??

[Howard Acheson]

Do you want to clean it or refinish it? I would probably refinish it. That way you end up with a good looking table. Refinishing would start with removing all the finish using a chemincal stripper containing methylene chloride. Once you have all the finish off, sand from 100 to 120, to 150 and finish at 180. Then put on the clear finish of your choice. Varnish would be the most durable.

[Steve Schoene]

I don't think I would be so eager to refinish, especially to the point of extensive sanding. It's not a question of intrinsic value however. Your table is young enough that a good, bright finish is an asset, not a liablity.

I would start with some naptha to remove wax and grease. This would be unlikely to damage any finish. Then you should probably test to see what finish is on the table now. Try some denatured alcohol on an inconspicuous spot. If this gets sticky, then you have shellac. If that doesn't have a significant effect, try a bit of lacquer thinner. Again, lacquer will be dissolved by the thinner. If nothing still happens, then you might have varnish. It's pretty unlikely however that you would find varnish on a commercially made table from that time period. You might have the results of misguided application of BLO, leaving a dark almost sticky mess. That may need stripping as Howard says.

With either shellac or lacquer, it's possible to remove lots of the dirty finish without stripping the finish entirely or removing it's "history".

It is totally a matter of taste whether you want to make the table new, or make it "respectable" while retaining some signs of age.