My wife recently spilt nail polish remover on an oak coffee table and it’s taken a decent part of the top down to the bare wood removing all varnish (?)

Think I’m going to need to take the whole top back to bare wood as a local repair probs be just as much faff and it’s not that big. Any tips on what product I should use once I’ve sanded back to bare wood? There’s a bewildering range in b&q.. It’s just medium oak as far as I can tell and have no idea what is on it from factory..

Any pointers would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Nick

Are you sure it’s solid and not veneer? How big is the surface you’re thinking of sanding? What’s your skill level and what tools do you have available?

Don’t sand it unless you’re sure it’s solid timber. I would use a chemical stripper like nitromorse. Stipple on and scrub off with grade 3 steel wool in the direction of the grain including the edge. Protect yourself with gloves an eye protection. Neutralise the stripper with meths  and sand with 180 grit.

For the finish i would probably use a shellac based polish with a brush. Button polish or some such. You can get this from a good traditional hardware shop. Don’t get any of that crap from b&q.

Alternatively take it to a professional.  if it’s small it should only cost about  £70 +vat depending on your area.

Don’t listen to joiners. They have no idea about this kind of thing. ☺

Rub a Walnut on it?

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/how-do-i-fix-this-white-ring-on-oak-furniture/

Got a white ring on the table due to spilling an alcoholic drink and a walnut (well its oil) rejuvenated it

Clearly, regular trips to the beauty salon for nail care should be seen as a joint household expense to avoid this calamity in future 😉💅

Rachel

Why not just use more Nail Polish remover (acetone) – rather than add new chemicals or mechanical means to stripping the rest of the surface?

Thank you for the responses all. I think my wife would definitely agree with your suggestion Rachel!

Its definitely solid oak and in terms of size it’s 600 x 400mm so not huge. Good shout in using more acetone, hadn’t thought of that.

In terms of tooling I don’t really have anything other than the usual sandpaper/teek oil/linseed oil kicking round in the garage. I hadn’t considered chemical removal actually but it sounds preferable to mechanical.

This is going to be trickier than I thought..

Can you post a picture? How you deal with it is going to depend on what kind of finish it has, as that’ll affect how another finish takes to it. Of course, much depends on how much the table means to you. Where are you located?

I’m up in Newcastle. Table hasn’t got huge sentimental value TBH so I’ll happily have a pop at it. We use them pretty regular so they’ve got a few scars anyway.. just none as big as this one!

Use a scraper to get the surface flat and clean, much better than abrasive paper, it’s what cabinet makers use. A straight edged piece of glass would work, but a piece of steel is more robust. Then use a good oil, boiled linseed is cheap, and give it several good coats. Wire wool as an applicator is often suggested, I think it opens the surface a bit, letting the oil soak in better. I certainly wouldn’t use any powered sanding device, too big a chance of it leaving visible marks on the surface.

Spill the rest of the bottle on the table.. swish it around a bit to do the whole top.

Refinish with varnish / oil / wax or whatever you choose.

Job done.

Logic would suggest that if nail polish remover removes nail polish, nail polish should remove nail polish remover.

IANAfurniturerestorer.

As CountZero says use a scraper, it will take no time at all and give a very good finish and make no dust, just scrapings. Then treat with a finish of your choice.

Don’t go near it with a sander unless you really know what you are doing. In which case you wouldn’t go near it with a sander….etc

Nitromoors? No, definitely not.

Don’t go near it with a sander unless you really know what you are doing. In which case you wouldn’t go near it with a sander….etc

What I was trying to say, but nowhere near as well! 😁