We have two ~50 year old pieces of furniture, both made of rosewood: a dining table and a coffee table. As far as I know, both were finished with oil.
Both have some fairly minor blemishes on the surfaces (water marks, etc.). I was wondering if I can refinish these problem spots without actually doing the whole piece. If not, how do I remove the oil finish from the whole piece to then refinish?
Replies
Q,
Check out the Liberon range of products. They have items intended to remove ring and water marks from various finishes. Repair of oil finish using these magic liquids is often the easiest.
Lataxe
If you really do have an oil finish you don't need to remove the old oil to refurbish the surface. Just carefully clean the surface, with mild soap and water and with naptha. A gentle swipe or two with a cloth barely damped with DNA my help remove any white ring types to blemishes.
The oil can be "refreshed" with a new coating directly over the old. It would probably be of benefit for the surfaces with the blemishes to apply the oil with steel wool vigorously wiping off any excess with a cloth. You may well find this does enough to reduce the appearance of any blemishes.
I assume these rosewood tables have veneer on the tops, so care is in order. Blemishes that aren't right on the surface can't be sanded out.
There is also a chance that the finish was not oil, but a thin lacquer.
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