Dear fellow knotheads,
A customer just told me that a guest created whitish spots with a steam iron on the top of her dining table. (trying to iron out table cloth wrinkles) I built the table and the top is veneered with makore applied to mdf. The finish is about 6 to 8 coats of Varathane 900 gloss varnish, leveled and rubbed out to satin sheen. Can any of you offer a suggestion for eliminating these whitish spots short of totally refinishing the top?
Thanks, Tom.
Replies
Spray "blush remover" works on lacquer. I don't know about your top.
Frosty
"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
I would first clean the surface with VM&P naphtha (available at hardware and paint stores). That might be enough to fix the problem all by itself. At the very least, it will remove any wax or oil that might be obscuring exactly what's going on in the varnish itself.
There are a few different products that are sold for this purpose. The blush remover mentioned is one; Liberon makes one called Ring Remover that specifically lists varnish as a finish that it works with (its main ingredient is naphtha, in fact).
-Steve
Steve,I inspected the table this morning and found the "whitish" areas to be quite faint. Naptha did the job. It removed the wax and the blushed areas completely. Thanks for your help. The customer will rewax and buff out the table as penance.Tom.
"The customer will rewax and buff out the table as penance."
Be sure to keep an "incident record" on file. That way, you can always shame them into submission if'n they get uppity.
-Steve
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