3 Tables Cleaned and Oiled 3 Ways
3 Materials
$1
1 Hour
Easy
I saw a Hometalk post by Holly Lefevre. Here is her link. http://www.hometalk.com/diy/repair/furniture/easy-fix-for-damaged-wood-1585949
It inspired me to try this on my living room coffee tables, and it got me to wondering if other things would work as well as the Vaseline so I tried it out. I have 2 end tables and a coffee table. A few days ago I did the Vaseline on one end table and Friday I did the other end table in mineral oil and the coffee table in coconut oil. See photos for what I did and how it came out.
End table #1 I started with Vaseline and a spoon. I used the spoon to scoop the Vaseline and I plopped it on the table. I laid the spoon on the paper towel when I didn't need it. This was so I didn't contaminate the Vaseline with dirt, dust or other contaminants. I used my hands to smear the Vaseline all over the table.
This is from the damage caused by watering plants. You can see the Vaseline smeared all over the table. I left it sitting over night.
I should note before I started I slipped these pieces of wood under the legs so I didn't get Vaseline on my carpet. These are left over pieces of my laminate kitchen floor. See the white on the corner of the table leg? that scraped off easily the next day when I removed the Vaseline.
I used copious amounts of paper towels to remove the Vaseline what a mess that was. It is also what got me to wondering how other oils would work. The cloth on the table is an old one of those as seen on tv fake chamois things. I had the set that came with the yellow and the blue. That one is the blue it was old and thin. When I was done buffing the table I threw it away.
This is the freshly cleaned with Vaseline table next to my poor dried out coffee table. The coffee table soon would get treated with coconut oil. Just look at that color difference. WOW! even though the end table still had dark stains it was beautiful by comparison.
This is some of the water damage done to the table the bits of wood have lifted. I am thinking about setting my steamer on it for a bit and seeing if the glue will loosen then I'll put some weight and see if it goes back into place. If I do I'll write a post about it and let you know.
End table #2 it isn't as damaged but it is dry and there are some stains on it. I put the table on the bits of left over flooring and poured on some mineral oil. I used my wax brush to paint the legs, sides and top with the mineral oil. it didn't take much maybe a quarter of the bottle and mineral oil isn't very expensive. you can pick it up in any pharmacy. I believe the cheapest I have seen is Walmart they have it in the laxatives section I want to say it is $2-$3. I left this sitting over night. they next day most of the oil had soaked in and I used a few paper towels to wipe up any excess that was still on it.
And lastly the coffee table got treated with the coconut oil. I used my kitchen basting brush on this one since it is food related and could be easily washed. By late evening most of the coconut oil had soaked it so I poured on more and brushed it all over, again I left it over night. This table is the worst because it is where I feed my son and his formula boxes tend to drip and I wipe it often
This is the coffee table the next morning. Most of the oil had soaked in. I took a few paper towels and wiped up the little that was left. It was mostly to just buff it a bit as most of what was on the towel was dirt, very little oil was on them. This close edge is still a little on the pale side I'm not sure if it needs more oil or if the color is just gone from so much cleaning.
My temporary coffee table made with plywood and formula boxes. You need somewhere to put your stuff right. That glass plate will be another lazy Susan project soon.
End table #1 treated with Vaseline before and after picture. As you can see most of the light stains are gone. the dark ones are still there I will have to look into what needs to be done to remove those, or just let it be it adds character and this set wasn't new when I got it. It was one of my thrift store finds.
End table #2. treated with mineral oil. There wasn't much damage to begin with it was mostly just dry. there was white paint splatters all over the top from when I painted my ceiling a few months ago. Those splatters easily came off with just a little scratching of my fingernail through the paper towel. Not hard enough to tear the towel.
Coffee table treated with coconut oil, That bit of turquoise paint in the front right corner also scratched off the next day. I really am a slob with paint. But it is nice to know a little oil and it seems any oil will remove it after soaking over night. It doesn't look as good as the other 2 tables but all in all it's not too bad. maybe it just needs some more oil or maybe it needs a little stain. I discovered I have a bottle of Old English for dark wood I could try that out. For now I am fine with the out come.
The 3 tables pushed together for comparison. The one top left with the dark rings was treated with Vaseline. The one on the top right was treated with mineral oil. The bottom table was treated with coconut oil. The Vaseline was the messiest by far, but I think it is a toss up as far as results between the Vaseline and mineral oil I think they are very similar in outcome. The coconut oil needed to be repeated and I probably should have done it a third time. But I am happy with the results for now. I noticed that there was still some formula drips so I will scrub those off before I attempt more oil.
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5 of 8 comments
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I have an almost identical coffee table! I used coconut oil on it quite a while back and it made a world of difference. Although... I never got to the stage of buffing with a rag or paper towels because my dog decided to lick it all off!!
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Thank you for going to all that trouble. I was wondering how to tackle a lovely round glass cabinet that belonged to my great grandmother. The wood frame is 2 inches all over. I’m going to try the Vaseline and the mineral oil.
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Thank you, Nadine. I’ll do that.
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