What to do to fix my table??

This table is only five years old and it is starting to have white area on it. I dont know how to explain it so I hope the picture helps but it looks like the varnish or finish on it is messing up I am not for sure so I cleaned it and then used Old English on it well it looked better for two days then back to this hope someone can help me and I dont want to paint it not an option. I have always cleaned it with a wet cloth then just sprayed furniture polish on it thanks everyone
  21 answers
  • Accentuations! Accentuations! on Oct 23, 2014
    Hi Trent and Tonya! It looks as tho his wood could actually be a heavy veneer? Maybe oak? If so, moisture may have gotten to the piece. I would consider matching the stain color and then sanding the top and doing a light re-stain. Let it dry and do a second coat. If it appears to be back to normal, I would use a good non-yellowing Polyurethane. Two coats---allowing to dry between.
  • Jay Oldridge Jay Oldridge on Oct 23, 2014
    Coconut oil fixed my old sewing machine cabinet that was looking the same way!!!
  • Kelly Patterson Kelly Patterson on Oct 23, 2014
    Try rejuvenate its not a permanent fix but it does last a few months! If a Permanent fix is what you are looking for I would either restain or wax the table and then use a polyurethane to seal it
  • Swan Road Designs Swan Road Designs on Oct 23, 2014
    Don't think I'd do something as drastic as sanding it. Try a little buffing with very, very fine steel wool. Then wipe it down lightly with Liquid Gold. Wipe all the Liquid gold off and buff with a soft cloth. This will probably take care of your problem.
  • The varnish has worn off in places and moisture has gotten into the wood where there no protective sealer. A light sanding might be enough of a surface prep, but I doubt it. It's my opinion that it needs to be stripped down to bare wood, restained, and resealed with polycrylic or polyurethane.
  • Susie Susie on Oct 24, 2014
    Ongoing - once you've fixed, I would recommend only ever wipe with a damp cloth which has been really well wrung out, to avoid leaving moisture on the wood. Never use spray polishes as they contain all sorts of things that aren't good for your wood. Proper wax polish only needs to be applied once a month and buffed well. Good luck!
  • Jane Jane on Oct 24, 2014
    I had a similar problem on my oak dining room table. I sanded it down. restained, and used water based polyurethane. (2 coats) did the trick.
  • Trent-Tonya Sharp Trent-Tonya Sharp on Oct 24, 2014
    thanks to everyone I am going to try some of your idea and if nothing helps buy another
  • Wanda.ll Wanda.ll on Oct 24, 2014
    Here you go read this. There is another product to remove white rings on this website http://www.happyhandyman.com/ but this might be your answer. Good luck. I did this to all my furniture when I moved and it all looks brand new now. No scratches or marks anywhere.I keep telling you all about this man. He is the best. If you have a problem just email him and he tell you what to do to fix it before you ruin it. They were updating some furniture and talking about how easy it was to put a new finish on an old piece. I stopped and looked closely; they were using Restore A Finish. They had the can all covered up, but I could see just a piece of it and knew immediately what they were using. And they were smart! Restore A Finish is the only product that will go down beneath the varnish and stain the wood underneath. Their piece had been in storage and was dusty and dry looking. It had white rings and scratches all on the top. With a soft rag and the Restore A Finish in the color of the wood, they wiped away years of age on the piece. They didn’t have to strip the piece and sand down all the old varnish because Restore A Finish can penetrate the varnish. Restore A Finish comes in 9 colors from neutral to ebony brown. If you need to, you can blend any color together to get a desired look. So whether your piece has been in storage, has smoke damage, crazed surfaces, white rings, nicks and abrasions, Restore A Finishcan bring your piece back to life again. After applying the Restore A Finish, use the Feed and Wax to protect the surface of the piece. It has a citrus fragrance, and will enhance the grain of the wood. Just apply with a soft rag. We have had Restore A Finish, and Feed and Wax on our shelves for years and I am always tickled when my customers have success with two great products.
  • Cinn Cinn on Oct 24, 2014
    It looks like teak. Teak oil can be purchased and liberally applied and rubbed in. You may want to try this first, before resorting to sanding and re-staining. I oil my teak table once a year.
  • Trent-Tonya Sharp Trent-Tonya Sharp on Oct 24, 2014
    this is our family dining table and it is well used we have family dinner every night together and weekends well sometimes twice a day breakfast/supper. the whole table is doing this not just spots and i am ocd about cleaning so it gets wiped down alot. the table is oak so i thought when i bought it we would have it for years and make many memories I know it is just a piece of furniture but i really dont want to buy another I am hoping to save it :)
    • Cinn Cinn on Oct 25, 2014
      It really looks dried out, and I would still suggest oil. I have an old family oak table - 100+ years - I just wipe it with a damp cloth and dry it with an old tea towel right away. Is there a place down at the side where you can test oiling, or perhaps applying scratch remover first and then oiling?
  • Brenda Brenda on Oct 24, 2014
    'Trade Secret' scratch remover is a real miracle worker...really amazing! I bought it at Home Depot for a coffee table that got a little scratched up during a move then immediately went around the house touching up dressers, cabinets anything else I could find. I used a small sponge with a little wooden handle from the dollar store that I had laying around, I believe used for stenciling or such. It worked perfectly for dabbing here & there and an old cloth to wipe off any extra. There are different colour tones.
  • J J on Oct 24, 2014
    I agree with Stephanie Klingler, strip it, it's wood and gets worn from constant use, five years is a long time.. Also use a tablecloth during dinner so you won't have to clean the surface as often because that's whats most likely doing most of the damage. But whatever you do don't keep replacing the table, keep it, but have it refinished. Good luck darlin!
  • Louise Fulton Louise Fulton on Oct 24, 2014
    I have used the restore that Wanda is talking about and it is really good, honest it works great! When we were first married I was given my husband's grandmothers dining set. It was not in very good condition when I got it but I loved the fact that it was handed down in the family. We used it for about 10 yrs as our kitchen table, so it went through 3 very active boys. When it was finally going into the dining room, I figured I should try to make it look better. I did the restore that Wanda is talking about and the put on a couple of light coats of verythane. After I had done all that work we had to move again and of course the dining table came back into the kitchen. It held up beautifully for about 20 years and now My son and his wife have it in their dining room and use it everyday, the shine has gone down a bit but it still repells water and looks great.
  • Mandy Loriot Mandy Loriot on Oct 24, 2014
    Some furniture pieces simply get dry or worn from moisture, and a lemon oil made for furniture restoration brings the color and shine back to life.
  • Melinda Lockwood Melinda Lockwood on Oct 24, 2014
    Bet is it a pecan veneer. Lovely wood. Don't use polyurethane. Use brushing laquer. A much nicer finish - richer looking. Also, be very careful about sanding unless you know how thin the veneer is. Don't use commercial polishes - they contain silicon and you will never get a new finish to "stick." Once you have refinished just dust or wipe with a damp cloth.
  • Nita Nita on Oct 24, 2014
    Trade Secret is great and Old English oil , also at least use hot pads under bowls of food, it could be from steam from the hot food in bowls of food.
  • Craig Harris Craig Harris on Oct 24, 2014
    Hi Trent, my company is Furniture Arts and I've been a restoration and conservation artisan for 32 years. It's difficult to assess from the small pic, but it looks like the finish is lifting in the grain areas. It is more than likely caused by lacquering before all the solvent/medium in the stain was completely evaporated and the pigment allowed to dry, causing poor adhesion. Providing the finish on the table is solvent based (lacquer, shellac, varnish), there are professional procedures that include using an aerosol or spray system and introducing a retarder that temporarily softens the lacquer, allows any trapped moisture to escape, and allows the lacquer to re-adhere in the affected areas without removing the existing finish and coloring. This is the correct way to repair this and I would consult a local professional. There are no consumer available products that will do anything but mask the problem if it is what I described.
    • Marion Nesbitt Marion Nesbitt on Oct 24, 2014
      @Craig Harris I am impressed. Wondering if this system would work on alligatored wood door frames in a 100+ year old house.
  • Tegma Tegma on Oct 24, 2014
    It looks like water has seeped under the top layer, and if so, you can remove that by just using a blow dryer or heat iron, blowing it for a minute or two over the white areas. I had a DR table which had water marks on it for some 6 years or more, and was able to completely remove them by using my craft heating iron. You can't see any marks anymore. Try that and see if it works. Just work the heat over it for a minute or two and see if that does the trick. If not, then you've got a big job ahead of you to sand it down and re-varnish.
  • BECKY TEAFORD BECKY TEAFORD on Oct 25, 2014
    oil english furniture polish in oak been using it for 35 years and it works wonders
  • Donna Arsenault Donna Arsenault on Oct 25, 2014
    I recently restored my table and my parents table, that were both doing the same thing. I used a product called Restor-a-finish, found at Home Hardware..might be able to see pics in one of my posts.