How do I restore my table top?
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It's my fault I wasted glue on my dining table while working on another project. Attempts to remove the glue left two ugly scars on the finish; attempts to sand, and restain the areas left larger scars. The table is wood in a clean craftsman style and I need to stay with that look. As a result a painted top, farmhouse or shabby chic look will not work. The table top appears to have some type of printed wood finish with a broad border and a simple inflated look pattern in the center.I'm open to suggestions that will allow me to keep the craftsman, arts and crafts, prairie look of the table.
printed wood ? you may have just that ..a paper print over mdf, with no grain underneath, cannot be repaired to original. you will have to apply a faux finish to achieve a similar affect. or you have a very thin what is call veneer on top, you will need to strip it and not sand much to refinish, due to sanding through the veneer will also remove it. Veneer can most time be fixed.
Esquire Shoe Polish. Round can - spit & shine. Rub. Rub. Rub. Use color closest to finish. Apply over entire table. Protects from spills as it would protect shoes.
I thought of contact paper when you said printed wood. It looks real to me. There are a multitude of stain colors out there. Unfortunately you may have to sand the whole table to get a consistent stain shade. The other thing I noticed is the glue spill still looks pretty dark and may require additional sanding. I'd probably start by trying to color, but go into it knowing my perfectionist self will probably end up sanding the whole table top.
I say printed finish because with the least amount of sanding the wood grain inlay pattern disappears. Its definitely not veneer.
I'm toying with the idea of a decopage panel in the center using antiqued maps, antiqued book pages, antiqued astrological charts, etc etc. But how to treat the broad outer border still has me scratching my head.
I have a beautiful mahogany bar cabinet. Someone laid a battery on it. It must have been an old battery because the end of it popped open and spilled battery acid directly onto it. This happened in the middle of the night. When I found it, the acid made one large and several small pits. I was devastated. It was right in the front. I used OOOO steel wool and gently sanded it until it was as level with the rest of the wood. I went a little too far and got down to the wood underneath. I didn’t know it was veneer on top. I was sick. I used the furniture polish with the dark stain over it. It helped a little. I got a set of wood stain markers and started with tiny lines to copy the wood grain. As soon as I applied it, I immediately wiped it with a paper towel to blend it a little to keep it from looking like a drawn line. I started out with the lightest color first then worked up in darkness till it matched. Do it very sparingly and follow the marker with the paper towel immediately behind. I was able to copy the grain enough to not be able to tell. Now it’s not noticeable unless you look closely. I had to let it dry for a long time- couple days.
I’ve used Old English Scratch Cover (Scratch-tex?) and it works wonders. Use a well folded paper towel or cloth as it seeps thru and use just a bit at a time to see how well it covers. It’s worked wonders for me and well worth trying!