Asked on Jan 12, 2015

Best way to refinish this table

Sheila Pruitt
by Sheila Pruitt
My dining room table is damaged from use - water, heat, kids crafts. What is the best way to refinish? Sand it? Use a stripper first? Does it look like its two different types of woods or just stained two colors? And probably a thin piece of wood on side since grain goes up? I bought it used many years ago but I think it was expensive piece new. I'll refinish the chairs and get two upholstered ones to go with when I add the leaf. Thanks!
  18 answers
  • Caroline  Davenport Caroline Davenport on Jan 12, 2015
    I can't really tell if what you are trying to achieve is an elegant look, but if you are, I would take the top layer of old varnish off - maybe spot strip any old paint - and darken the lighter wood to match the already dark. I could use a regular mahogany, walnut but you could also use an old trick by using dark English Scratch Guard to stain the light to match. As the stain darkens the light you eventually blend the whole top together with the ESG. It would probably take a whole bottle, but it is cheap, and works well when you are trying to blend and match, and it gives a beautiful rich color. When that dries tongue oil it a few times to give it a durable protective shine and finish. It would work well on the chairs too.
  • Gail Salminen Gail Salminen on Jan 12, 2015
    @Sheila Pruitt looks like a great piece that has seen better days. I would recommend refinishing it as it looks sturdy and is a nice piece. I would start with sanding and if it doesn't seem to be getting all of the finish off easily I would use a stripper to get the top coat off. Then go back to sanding. I would also recommend restaining the the top - beautiful wood grain is evident. Don't forget to polyurethane a couple of times at the end of the process.
  • Harriette Brice Harriette Brice on Jan 12, 2015
    I really like the dark and light wood combination. I would give it a good sanding and then coat with linseed oil and hand rub it in. As for the chair seats I would find an attractive fabric and recover them once the wood has been refinished in the same manner as the table. I would definitely not paint it.
  • Lisa Adams Lisa Adams on Jan 12, 2015
    Maybe sanding lightly and then use minwax polyshades in a color you want.
  • Lee Cunningham Green Lee Cunningham Green on Jan 12, 2015
    I would lightly sand the areas of most abuse, (Purple kid art) hopefully that comes off with out causing too much damage, I actually find your table lovely in it's 2 tones, However if you are looking to completely re-do it, it is absolutely an excellent piece and would shine up like a new penny. The choice is yours of course concerning 2 tones or one, and stains are as varied as paint colors. I agree with Harriette and a l would sand the bad spots gently and clean the wood well with Linseed oil.
  • Swan Road Designs Swan Road Designs on Jan 12, 2015
    No, don't sand it...yet. And, yes, your table is made up of a variety of woods as evidenced by the different wood grain patterns and wood tones. I would leave it alone and let the different types of wood shine on their own. The best way to get to the "heart" of your table is to strip it first. This will take some time and will be messy, but you will end up with a blank canvas. Once the table is stripped, you will probably notice that what you thought were damaged areas are not and that some of them may have disappeared. What you were most likely seeing before the piece was stripped was damage to the original finish. If there are dents/dings in the table, probably the top, place a damp tea towel over those areas and pass a warm iron over the towel. The steaming of these boo boos will cause the wood to swell and, in essence, make the marks go away. The marks that won't be remedied by this process are those where the wood fibers are broken rather than bent. They may lessen but won't go away. Now that the table is stripped and the dents have been addressed, allow the piece to dry thoroughly, overnight would be best, then you can introduce it to sand paper. Sand it evenly and lightly, wiping it down to remove any dusty residue until the wood is satiny smooth. Applying your stain and/or finish are the next steps. As I said earlier, I would let the wood combinations speak for themselves and only give the table several light coats of a clear polyurethane finish, allowing to dry overnight after each application and, also, lightly rubbing with very fine steel wool between each coat of poly. If you can, do this in a calm, dust-free environment. Don't be tempted to use a fan. It will only serve to blow fine dust right on to your new, wet finish. You should put at least three coats of finish on the table, probably more on top if you will be using it on a regular basis. More thinner coats make a better finish than one or a few thick ones. Once done, give the table a hearty coat of paste wax and buff, buff, buff. You'll have a brand new table.
  • Gloria tulip Gloria tulip on Jan 12, 2015
    FYI: After I had spent many hours refinishing a bed, I went to a professional restorer of furniture about a replacement part for the side rail. I had used Formby's oil as the finish. He told me: "No kind of oil is ever the preferred finish. It is only used if a better surface finish like lacquer, shellac or varnish is not available. I know all the “old hands” will turn up their noses at that idea but history is history and there are reasons for that."
  • Sheila Pruitt Sheila Pruitt on Jan 12, 2015
    Thanks everyone, I appreciate the advise. I definitely want to keep it the two original wood colors but wasn't sure if sanding or stripping was best since its not paint. Is there a recommended brand of stripper? I think it will be beautiful again, wish I had taken better care of it. We remodeled our kitchen and took in the rarely used formal dining room. So now I'm turning the rarely used living room into a dining room and the table will be seen as soon as you walk in the door. And I'll have more room to add the leaf.
    • See 1 previous
    • MaryStLouis MaryStLouis on Jan 13, 2015
      @Sheila Pruitt I use Citristrip available from Lowe's and Home Depot among other places. It's gentle enough to use on antiques so I'm sure it would be fine for your table. I actually have a piece that I'm working on with a layer of this stripper soaking in right now. I'm attaching a photo that I'll be using in a tutorial when I'm done, showing the materials I used. *The foam brush melted so you'll need to use an inexpensive chip brush to lather on the stripper should you use it. I think you have a very nice table there, just needs some TLC.
  • Belinda Todd Belinda Todd on Jan 12, 2015
    We just finished redoing an antique table and chairs. It had a lot of drippy varnish on it. We just used a belt sander on the top and it came out beautiful! I love the multi color wood btw! I would just sand it some and put a clear satin sealer on it.
  • Carol S. Carol S. on Jan 13, 2015
    Sheila, your table is MOST LIKELY INLAYS (meaning that the dark colored wood areas on the top are INLAYS and only about 3/8" thick, and are REAL WOOD.) Looks like Walnut is the dark colored wood. You will have to be careful what type of stripper you use because it might soak through, which would loosen the INLAY pieces. If you sand, you can accidentally "gouge" the thin colored woods. The side having fake pieces to cover up the layers is the giveaway. The sides are probably not wood, or may be a very thin wood strip, and may have to be removed before you do anything to the table, because the chemicals in the strippers and any sanding may loosen them anyway. BEST BET - use a stripper for top of the table, then HAND sand LIGHTLY before refinishing. The finish should be 3-4 clear coats of a marine-type of clear finish product, with a light sanding between coats. The marine-type products give excellent "kid-proofing" for liquids of all kinds, and keep their shine (think boats). Wear a mask & have plenty of ventillation during the whole process!!!!! A quick flick of your fingernail may tell you if those side pieces are wood or some man-made product. You can actually remove it completely (carefully) with a wide chisel and leave the layers showing! It would look much nicer!
  • Donna Ring Donna Ring on Jan 14, 2015
    I used the soy stripper and it was amazing. Safe, no odor. Worked great.
  • Swan Road Designs Swan Road Designs on Jan 14, 2015
    Pretty sure the top is not made of inlays. If you look underneath the table and you see the same color pattern, then what you do have is laminate, which means a variety of different woods have been glued and sandwiched together and treated as one large surface.
  • Sheila Pruitt Sheila Pruitt on Jan 14, 2015
    Thank you all, a lot to look at. Was thinking I could get the leaf out too and see if the ends are finished. I really appreciate all the info. Now I'm ready for it to get a little warmer so I can get busy. I spent a week refinishing bathroom cabinets and it was so hard to get the coating and stain off, will be more prepared this time. (The cabinets look like I had envisioned so it was worth it.)
    • Donna Ring Donna Ring on Jan 16, 2015
      @Sheila Pruitt I did a dining table in the house with Soy Gel stripper. It is odorless and safe for the family. It was so easy to work with. I would coat, wait a bit and then the finish would just roll up when scraped. Just had a trash bag handy to dump in. The gel also stayed in place and didn't drip. Just good stuff. That has been 10+ years ago and I noticed that the price has gone up...but I can assure you that a gallon will last a long time. I probably had mine for 2 years...and did some major projects.
  • Sheila Pruitt Sheila Pruitt on Jan 14, 2015
    What I just found looking underneath is the sides are 2" but the table top is only 3/4" thick, and its all the same color that doesn't look like either finish.
    • Swan Road Designs Swan Road Designs on Jan 14, 2015
      @Sheila Pruitt From your pictures, I really didn't expect the top to be too thick. The sides "apron" of the table are often wider than the top, which gives the illusion that the table top is much thicker than is actually is. As large as the table is and it appears to be made of hardwoods rather than pine, if it were as thick as the apron, it would be very, very heavy and difficult to move. Even though you relate that the underside is dissimilar to the top, it is still possible, and perhaps probably due to cost savings, that it is still laminate construction. The wide aprons reinforce that because the maker could use a minimum of expensive woods applied to a lesser substrate and have the wide apron mask the one-on-top-another application. I've disassembled and crawled all over many kinds of furniture and learned a lot about how furniture is built.
  • PattyV PattyV on Jan 15, 2015
    It appears to me that you might have some veneer on the sides and possibly in the middle darker section. It may not looked like it but veneer was a little thicker years ago. I would sand ever so lightly on the lighter pieces of wood in an attempt to remove some of the stains. I would then stain....yes, I said it, stain, the light wood a slightly darker color (but not as dark as the center piece) to hide most of the stains and then wax.
  • Lindcurt Lindcurt on Jan 15, 2015
    'I used to use Formby's furniture refinisher on any wood that I did not want the color changed on. A paint stripper will strip the color as well as the varnish. A product that only strips varnish and not paint will be applied with 000 steel wood using a light circular motion. Then wipe off the varnish with a rag. Lightly sand and apply new clear topcoat. There definitely is veneer on this table sand lightly. No belt sander.
  • Sheila Pruitt Sheila Pruitt on Jan 31, 2015
    I found some paperwork that I had written info about the table, it's Rosewood and Teak. I googled it and found it here! http://www.judyfrankelantiques.com/antiques/view/mid_century_rosewood_and_teak_dining_table_by_kipp_stewart_for_directional
  • I recently found Dixie Belle's Water based Voodoo gel stain. It goes over everything and covers so well.