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Q&As since 1989


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Repairing deep scratch in clear lacquer table-top finish

I have a client that recently had a lacquer-topped table sent off for a heat applied polish. The client's table now has several long and short raised scratches in the surface. The problem is that these scratches go all the way through the deep lacquer, although they do not affect the wood substrate. It doesn't appear that they can be rubbed out like a surface scratch because of the depth. What do you suggest?

Tim Happel
paint and restoration - Iowa City, Iowa
2005

I have a new Thomasville dining room table which is the a light natural oak color wood and there are deep pen markings how can this be repaired?

Rosaura Gomez
- Dripping Springs, Texas
2005

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My daughter spilled nail polish on my oak table. It took the finish off and dried the wood.

How can I repair it.

Anne Wolverton
refinishing - Wellington, Alabama
2006

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February 21, 2008

Hello, my name is June.

Recently I decided to cover my card table with vinyl. It came out great. I was very pleased. However, I had a pad on my dining room table top and as I stapled the vinyl onto the top of the card table the pad slipped and I managed to staple the card table top to the top of my beloved Pickled Oak dining table. I gently pulled out the staples and you can barely see the little holes, but if you run your hand over the area it feels raised.

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas.

I have heard a damp cloth and hot iron can help with scratches; will this work on staple holes?

Thank you for your consideration,

Yours,
Heartbroken
June Malonson
crafter - No. Ft. Myers, Florida

I spilt nail polish on my cherry dining room table. How can I repair it?

Melanie Mayer
- Sudbury, Massachusetts
June 6, 2009

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June 9, 2009

I think the reason there are five questions on this page and no previous answers is that there may be no easy answers.

Depressions in the wood or lacquer, beneath the final finish, as described by the first two posters, don't seem repairable to me, although a skilled refinisher might be able to "round" the pen depressions to reduce their obviousness via buffing or wet sanding in the way that "keying" marks are sometimes made less obvious on autos.

Nail polish remover is acetone [on eBay or Amazon], a powerful solvent. As one of the posters noted, "it took the finish off". I think the chances of repairing this without stripping and refinishing the whole table top are slim.

The raised "catchiness" of the staple holes is easily enough removed with very fine sandpaper, but what this may do in terms of making that area shinier or duller than the surrounding area is hard to say.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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December 2, 2010

A guest spilled some clear nail polish on a navy blue painted table top. Does anyone have a suggestion for removing it?
Some of it is in big blob and another area is smeared with the nail polish.

Much appreciated!

Diane Kaye
Home owner. - Northport, New York USA