HELP used wrong cleaning product on wood table


Maria Adame

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Im not sure what finish was used on the table. Its how the table came by the manufacture. I guess it could be wax. Its soft and slick. But now it looks like water stains from wiping down w a sponge using murkey water.  Ill try all the suggestions. Its a rather expensive table so i want to fix it

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16 minutes ago, Maria Adame said:

Im not sure what finish was used on the table. Its how the table came by the manufacture. I guess it could be wax. Its soft and slick. But now it looks like water stains from wiping down w a sponge using murkey water.  Ill try all the suggestions. Its a 2k table so i want to fix it

$20 or $20k table, if you absolutely destroyed the finish and needed to refinish the top, you're still only looking at $50 in materials. Don't stress too badly, it's nothing that can't be fixed one way or another.

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On 3/9/2019 at 10:50 AM, Maria Adame said:

 Yes i kno it can be fixed but my husband is gna be very upset when i end up telling him. So i just hope i can try to fix it on my own with minimal cost. 

OK, let's go for some things we can try right away without a lot of preparation.  Let me stress that you try each of these in a very small way before going whole hog.  If you have any paste wax that isn't made for cars, try a bit of that on a soft piece of t-shirt and rub out a small portion of the effected area.  If that wipes off clean, keep going. If not, I would move directly to a commercial product for such things like the Restore-a-Finish like Tom mentioned. Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc will carry it; call ahead to save time.

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There are a couple of products I would suggest you avoid as if they were the plague.  They are Pledge and EndDust along with any others that contain silicone.  Actually, I believe it is silicone that is the source of the problem; while it does make the surface slick it also makes refinishing much more problematic.

The simplest, most direct approach would be to apply some lemon oil [Olde English, Ace also has a house brand of lemon oil].  Apply and wipe on/off with old cotton rags such as a T shirt or towel.   Wax can be problematic and difficult-to-remove [though not as problematic as silicone]. 

I'm surprised that just plain soapy water caused you problems--had you been waxing the table?  Warm soapy water wiped on and off is generally pretty safe in my experience.  That and a bit of lemon oil are what I consistently recommended most often for what I built for the last 30 or 40 years before retiring.  Don't panic. Simply try a bit of lemon oil in a spot on a skirt or leg, and then if you like the results try some more.........

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  • 4 years later...

 

On 3/9/2019 at 12:22 PM, Maria Adame said:

Im not sure what finish was used on the table. Its how the table came by the manufacture. I guess it could be wax. Its soft and slick. But now it looks like water stains from wiping down w a sponge using murkey water.  Ill try all the suggestions. Its a rather expensive table so i want to fix it

I have an odd question; is this a Bernhardt table?

 

My husband and I found one in a consignment store a few weeks ago; it has similar issues and I've been looking for any information on the table and how to care for it.

 

(I reached out to Bernhardt, but aside from telling me the model was discontinued in 1999 they said they had no information.)

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