How to restore slimy furniture finishes
March 26, 2011 5:47 PM Subscribe
How do I rejuvinate the slimy finish on our furniture? The finish on our Plunkett Furniture, cherry veneer, made in China, desk has rubbed off at places that get a lot of contact. Same thing with our Plunkett beechwood kitchen table.
The clear finish has just rubbed off wherever we leave our hands, resulting in dull and smeary areas.
I'm really looking for a solution from someone who experienced the same thing as I'm pretty well aquainted with traditional furniture finishes, such as varnish and shellac and how to restore them; but I don't even know what kind of finish they used in China.
The clear finish has just rubbed off wherever we leave our hands, resulting in dull and smeary areas.
I'm really looking for a solution from someone who experienced the same thing as I'm pretty well aquainted with traditional furniture finishes, such as varnish and shellac and how to restore them; but I don't even know what kind of finish they used in China.
Are you sure the finish is worn off and not just dulled through repeated contact (can you see actual bare wood)?
Are the contact areas of the desk and table the tops? if that is the case you would have to treat the whole surface regardless of what type of finish it is.
Are the worn areas lighter than the still finished areas, if they are significantly lighter it is a spray on stain/finish, and most likely a lacquer.
Do you use Pledge or any product like that? They often have silicon in them which actually degrades the integrity of the original finish and also inhibits refinishing unless thoroughly cleaned. Professionals generally strip and sand for refinishing even then contaminants often remain resulting in "fish eyes" (spots where the finish just won't adhere). Wax is also very persistent.
It depends on what you want to do but you can always test a table leg with various aerosols and see what sticks and what beads, make sure the surface is clean.
posted by Max Power at 8:48 PM on March 26, 2011
Are the contact areas of the desk and table the tops? if that is the case you would have to treat the whole surface regardless of what type of finish it is.
Are the worn areas lighter than the still finished areas, if they are significantly lighter it is a spray on stain/finish, and most likely a lacquer.
Do you use Pledge or any product like that? They often have silicon in them which actually degrades the integrity of the original finish and also inhibits refinishing unless thoroughly cleaned. Professionals generally strip and sand for refinishing even then contaminants often remain resulting in "fish eyes" (spots where the finish just won't adhere). Wax is also very persistent.
It depends on what you want to do but you can always test a table leg with various aerosols and see what sticks and what beads, make sure the surface is clean.
posted by Max Power at 8:48 PM on March 26, 2011
I have some cabinets this has happened to where you open and close them. I plan on refinishing them as I don't think there's any way to do a spot touch up on the finish.
posted by fshgrl at 11:06 PM on March 26, 2011
posted by fshgrl at 11:06 PM on March 26, 2011
Slimy? I've had lacquered furniture get gummy/grimy in high wear areas before. Gummy to the point that it could be scraped off with a finger nail. I think this may be a characteristic sometimes with old fashioned nitrocellulose lacquer. I've seen a couple of times with vintage guitars.
On my furniture, it was taken care of by cleaning with turpentine. Weaker stuff like oil soap didn't really touch it. Fairly drastic, no doubt actually removed some of the lacquer. But the results have been fine since. Perhaps TSP would have worked as well.
posted by 2N2222 at 11:49 PM on March 26, 2011
On my furniture, it was taken care of by cleaning with turpentine. Weaker stuff like oil soap didn't really touch it. Fairly drastic, no doubt actually removed some of the lacquer. But the results have been fine since. Perhaps TSP would have worked as well.
posted by 2N2222 at 11:49 PM on March 26, 2011
Response by poster: I actually took a putty knife to the kitchen table and was able to scape off the gunky finish down to bare wood.
We do use Pledge, but on the areas that don't get a lot of contact, the finish is fine. My mom has used Pledge for forty years and her furniture finish isn't rubbing off.
I remember that the desk they used for sales in the Plunkett store had the same type of deteriorated finish at the wear points.
I think that whatever they're using in China for the finish is substandard or it's not within specs.
posted by qsysopr at 9:31 AM on March 27, 2011
We do use Pledge, but on the areas that don't get a lot of contact, the finish is fine. My mom has used Pledge for forty years and her furniture finish isn't rubbing off.
I remember that the desk they used for sales in the Plunkett store had the same type of deteriorated finish at the wear points.
I think that whatever they're using in China for the finish is substandard or it's not within specs.
posted by qsysopr at 9:31 AM on March 27, 2011
If you are down to bare wood in places you have to determine how the wood will look "wet."
Again, is the bare wood significantly lighter than the still finished wood? If so, wet it with naptha (wear gloves) or mineral spirits to see how it matches the still finished areas. this is what it will look like when a clear coat is applied. You also need to use the naptha or mineral spirits to clean the bare areas thoroughly, use 0000 steel wool.
If the color is different than the finished areas, you will have to decide if thats fine or you want to try and match the color some how. At our shop we would actually french polish using pigment powders to match the finished color, what you want to do is up to you.
After that for spot touch ups on unfamiliar surfaces I would use something like Ultra-Flo Ultra Bond, it's designed to stick to unforgiving unknown finishes. Spray very thin layers, allowing each layer to dry before applying the next YMMV. There will be sheen differences, sometimes they can be over come by rubbing out with 0000 steel wool, sometimes not.
Our shop would recommend doing the whole top, because spot touch ups like that are time consuming and highly unpredictable. The larger the surface area the more likely there will be trouble matching and keeping color and sheen consistent with the existing finish.
posted by Max Power at 12:23 PM on March 27, 2011
Again, is the bare wood significantly lighter than the still finished wood? If so, wet it with naptha (wear gloves) or mineral spirits to see how it matches the still finished areas. this is what it will look like when a clear coat is applied. You also need to use the naptha or mineral spirits to clean the bare areas thoroughly, use 0000 steel wool.
If the color is different than the finished areas, you will have to decide if thats fine or you want to try and match the color some how. At our shop we would actually french polish using pigment powders to match the finished color, what you want to do is up to you.
After that for spot touch ups on unfamiliar surfaces I would use something like Ultra-Flo Ultra Bond, it's designed to stick to unforgiving unknown finishes. Spray very thin layers, allowing each layer to dry before applying the next YMMV. There will be sheen differences, sometimes they can be over come by rubbing out with 0000 steel wool, sometimes not.
Our shop would recommend doing the whole top, because spot touch ups like that are time consuming and highly unpredictable. The larger the surface area the more likely there will be trouble matching and keeping color and sheen consistent with the existing finish.
posted by Max Power at 12:23 PM on March 27, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by madred at 6:35 PM on March 26, 2011