[OP]
Contributor
We have an older dining room table and whenever we use it we have to put table pads on it to protect the finish. My wife would like to do away with the pads.
What finish would you recommend I use to refinish it so we don't have to use the pads? What steps would I take to refinish it?
I'm thinking of using polyurethane as we have a table in our kitchen which I made and finished with polyurethane, it has held up perfectly.
I have no idea what the current finish is.
Thanks
Dennis
Contributor
Do you know whether the table top is veneer or solid lumber?
Contributor
What issues have you had if you don't put down pads, scratching, white rings, etc.? Do you know what the current finish is? Is it stained underneath or just a clear finish? Can you spray?
John
[OP]
Contributor
We haven't ever used the table without pads ( they came with the table). I don't know what the current finish is. It appears to be a clear finish over solid wood. I don't have the ability to spray.Originally Posted by John TenEyck
Dennis
Contributor
A picture of the table and approximate date it was made might be helpful. If the finish can be removed (from an inconspicuous area) with lacquer thinner, it is most likely a lacquer finish. If that does not remove it, then try denatured alcohol which would indicate shellac. Good luck!
Rustic? Well, no. That was not my intention!
Contributor
It's the other way around. Try DNA first. If it removes the finish then it's shellac. If it does not, then try lacquer thinner which will dissolve both, so you have to eliminate the possibility of it being shellac first.
If lacquer thinner doesn't remove it, then it's some type of catalyzed finish. And if that's the case with the OP's table, just use it because there's nothing you can get that will be tougher than that.
More to the OP. If you've never used the table w/o pads I suggest you do and just see how it holds up. You can always refinish it if it doesn't do well, but why do it before necessary?
John
Contributor
John,
Thanks for correcting my error. It increasingly a problem with my faltering memory.
Rustic? Well, no. That was not my intention!
Contributor
You aren't alone!
John
Member
A lot will depend on what type of wood the top is. The harder, the more durable. If the top is pine, it doesn’t matter what the finish it. There are many types of finish that will work. However, regardless of which one you use, definitely do not put hot items directly on the table. To remove the current finish, I would use a chemical remover followed by sanding to at least 220 grit.
Member
From the cheap seats:
Growing up our dining room table was only used for holidays and 'occasions'; getting out the pads was a part of the preparation ritual. "The Choosing Of The Tablecloth" was the female counterpart of which tie for Dad. We even had a dedicated storage nook for them. Bet some of you did as well.
Get rid of the table pads and you enter the territory of place mats, hot pads, trivets, worries over spilled drinks, and obsessing over the table manners of the uncle no one wants to invite but Grandma says we have to.
Please don't put Goopethane on that family heirloom. If the maker was a legit furniture shop, large or small, there's at least a coat or two on the table's underside of the same finish as on the top. Send wifey shopping, flip the table over and have at it with the Alky and laquer thinner. If you get to bare wood and still want to "do away with" the pads rather than your beloved, at least use a wiping poly like Satin Minwax (there's another I heard of as well but disremember, A&R maybe?) which is somewhat less plasticky.
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