I have a little oak (I think) coffee table
What is the best thing to clean it up with?
What should I use to finish it with? Bearing in mind that there will be hot mugs sat on the top
Thanks,

Sparky415


http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/sparky_415/a6f71200.jpg

The style looks sort of 1930s or 1940s -ish (and they were called library tables back then by many manufacrurers), so it's possibly nitrocellulose or precat lacquer finished, depends if it's mass made or not. Can you see if it's veneered? The uprights have profiled edges and might be solid, but are the top/shelves plywood? If so the veneers will be very thin so you'll need to be very careful. Sorry for the qyuestions, just trying to ascertain the materials used before proferring advice.

Scrit

Wolf,
I knew already how you would feel about Varnish, no its not varnished  Im not sure if there is any finish on it at all, it seems very dry, porous and soaked up years of fingerprints

Scrit,
No probs ask away,
I guess it’s that old I rescued it from going to the tip,
Yes its solid I can see the end of the timber (finger joint I think)
The uprights are real wood as well
I wanted to clean it without raising the grain or damaging the wood

Sparky415

Wolf,
Looks like its mostly grubby fingerprints on the top (far side is the worst) with a couple of maybe grease/oil or butter (right hand side)?
Not sure about the shelf I have just tried to clean it with a damp cloth and ‘coffee’ stain has mostly gone

Thanks, Sparky

Ps, Just thought I would say there’s a little label on the bottom that says
Heal & Son Ltd, London W

Heal's were/are synonymous with quality manufactured furniture, hence the solid wood (most 30s and 40s stuff was face-veneered and lipped plywood - the better stuff was lipped then veneeered, the logic behind the question). If it's from that period the most common finish is probably cellulose lacquer - damned dangerous stuff to spray. The nearest you'll get today is probably pre-catalysed lacquer, but that requires spray finishing, too.

If any of the marks are oily/greasy they will need to be lifted by wiping with some cellulose thinners, denatured alcohol or something of the like which won't leave a residue. Cellulose thinners may well assist in removing the rest ofthe finish as well. If the coffee stains are really bad they might respond to the application of a cloth soaked in one part glycerine to 4 parts water on the timber for a while, although this technique doesn't always work, and it will raise the grain so drying out and sanding will be required. I'd try to avoid bleaching stains as that requires oxallic acid and is quite nasty. Instead I'd opt for lightly sanding all over to 180 or 240 grit.

Once you've stripped the old finish an easy to apply coating is something like a water-based clear or tinted floor lacquer. e.g. Dulux Diamond Hard floor lacquer. This can be applied with a brush and being non-solvent based won't stink the house out as much. I'd try to avoid staining the piece as the results might be rather patchy depending on how well the original finish has soaked in. If you feel the horizontal surfaces have bleached out a bit much it might be better to add some coloursiser to some of the lacquer and apply a slightly tinted lacquer to these surfaces and building to a pleasing tone before clear coating the rest of the piece.

Note to Wolf: I didn't mention v@%n*sh!  

Scrit