Salvaging a lacquer finish

[Mark Stutz]

I was approached this week at work by one of my staff. She had placed her sons school project on her dining room table for safe keeping. It was a styrofoam pyramid painted with latex paint. The paint was at least dry to touch (mabe 24 hrs) a was placed on a terry cloth towel on the table. You guessed it! When she picked it up, the towel "stuck a little" and there was a foot square haze on the high gloss finish. The is a HIGH GLOSS comercial finish on darkly stained cherry. She had "somebody" out to look at it and was quoted $1500 to refinish the table. He suggested she try some rubbing compound. I tried some Turtle Wax Polishing compound on the unseen apron without problems. It has been suggested to me that denatured alcohol may "dry out" the water out of the lacquer since it is hydrophilic. Anybody ever do this? If that doesn't work is ther something besides Polishing Compound? Rottenstone with oil? with water?
She understands none of this might work, and she may have to do the entire top if it needs any rubbing, and may even go thru the finish. Should I advise her to just let it up to a professional finisher, even though she about died with the quote. Thanks in advance for your help.
Tried to get a picture but it just wouldn't show up.

[Bob Smalser]

... It was a styrofoam pyramid painted with latex paint. The paint was at least dry to touch (mabe 24 hrs)... a foot square haze on the high gloss finish. The is a HIGH GLOSS comercial finish on darkly stained cherry. She had "somebody" out to look at it and was quoted $1500 to refinish the table. He suggested she try some rubbing compound. I tried some Turtle Wax Polishing compound on the unseen apron without problems. It has been suggested to me that denatured alcohol may "dry out" the water out of the lacquer since it is hydrophilic. Anybody ever do this? If that doesn't work is ther something besides Polishing Compound? Rottenstone with oil? with water?
.

Assuming it is lacquer (usually a good assumption but always test first in an inconspicuous spot with acetone)...

...The alcohol bit doesn't make sense to me as canned lacquer is full of acetone-like solvents that absorb water....whereas, even strong paint store alcohol is chock full of water.

Like any water mark, I'd begin with cigar ashes in a slurry of mineral oil on a hard felt pad. Then I'd proceed to rottenstone and oil....then perhaps to fine pumice (on its own dedicated pad) if none of that worked....then coarse pumice, also on its own dedicated pad.

Wipe off with mineral spirits after each step and blow it dry to evaluate...just the oil alone can hide the water mark and its easy to go too deep with the coarser abrasives. Factory lacquer coats will be 6-8 or so over sanding sealer, but they are very thin.

When I got the watermark out, I'd simply reverse the process to polish the finish.

Brownells.com has the materials.

If I did have to go deeper...I'd have to examine it...but I strongly suspect could repair the top easily enough by removing just the damaged layers of lacquer and topcoat/polish without touching the stain/filler beneath, let alone the rest of the table. Been a while, but lacquer is fast...maybe 3 or 4 hours for high gloss @ 90 bucks a shop hour, most of that rubbing out.

[Bob Smalser]

Get what you need, Mark?

Let me know how it turns out.

[Charlie Plesums]

I think Bob is right on, but there may be even more gentle approaches to try before getting into the finish, if there is no rush.

First, I would remove any wax on the table with mineral spirits - paint thinner. We want to be working with the finish, not with wax.

The alcohol treatment is black magic, as Bob notes, but shouldn't hurt to try. Some people swear by it, so it must work at least occasionally.

I have had some success just rubbing hard with an old athletic sock. Some people claim that a clean cotton sock is roughly 2500 grit, which is fine enough to put a polish on a finish - probably finer than Bob's first step. I give this approach 20% chance of success, but the cost is nil, so it is worth a try. I'm not sure why it works, but I rub hard enough that the wood warms, which may help drive the surface moisture out.

[Scott Banbury]

My limited experience doing replacement/repair woodwork at a commercial restoration/refinishing business taught me that these outfits prefer to strip and refinish rather than repair. That said, a GOOD refinisher would be able to handle the damage you describe onsite at a conserably lower price than a total strip/refinish.


The first thing I would do (after stripping any wax) is to VERY lightly mist the area with Mohawk or Deft "no blush" spray--basically a very fast-flashing mix of lacquer solvents designed to release and flash-off the blush (water) in lacquer finishes.

[Bob Smalser]

Charlie has what is probably a better approach....a hard felt pad all by its lonesome is fairly abrasive.

[Lee Schierer]

Here is a non-invasive apporoach to the problem. If the problem is trapped moisture, take a linen type towel an fold it 2-3 layers thick over the spot. Thak a hot iron on the cotton setting and "press" the towel getting the towel very hot. Move the iron around and lift the towle periodically to see if the watermark is gone. Do not leave the iron on the towel long enough to scortch the towel or you could damage the finish.

If the hot iron trick doesn't work, you can still try all the other methods.