Sticky Lacquer on Dining Table

BrensBenz

Son has an inexpensive but nice dining table in his kitchen. The surface has contrasting veneers with some kind of lacquer over it. This lacquer is breaking our hearts. It becomes sticky! It seems to break down household polishes (Pledge, etc.) in days.

Recently, I attacked it with white spirit on roughish cloths to remove all old polishes, dirt, etc. and applied three coats of good quality beeswax, buffed with a new sheepskin on a DA. Beautiful, silky, and with that great beeswax smell.

Well, yesterday, the stickiness returned.......big time!

The table is in their vaulted and well-ventilated kitchen and the cooker hood appears to take away practically all of the cooking fumes. The table sits beside their patio door so gets (maybe too much) light.

Any simple ideas on how to keep this table surface smooth? I have offered to remove the lacquer and re-varnish with something that "does what it says on the tin" but I'm concerned about the veneers lifting before all remnants of the old lacquer are gone. No problem hand-sanding it off but, unless all of the old stuff is gone or neutralised, it may be a waste of time re-finishing it.

By the way, the "table-cloth" idea has been tried. It had to be carefully peeled off the table after a week. On the plus side, they never need flyspray!

recipio

Is the table new or old ?
If new it might have been sprayed with out of date lacquer and will need a complete strip and respray, but I'd leave that to the supplier.
If its more than a year old probably the only option is to sand it back and respray. However it would be worth trying some lacquer thinners and wire wool to see if it comes off. A kitchen supplier would probably spray it for you unless you want an oiled finish.

BrensBenz

recipio wrote: »

Is the table new or old ?
If new it might have been sprayed with out of date lacquer and will need a complete strip and respray, but I'd leave that to the supplier.
If its more than a year old probably the only option is to sand it back and respray. However it would be worth trying some lacquer thinners and wire wool to see if it comes off. A kitchen supplier would probably spray it for you unless you want an oiled finish.

Many thanks, recipio, for fast reply!

Maybe three or four years old now so probably out of warranty. And, as it's used as a table and desk, they probably won't be inclined to get involved with the endless transport, visits and "yiz musta dun it yurselves" stuff from the supplier.

I'm a fairly good (amatuer) sprayer but I'm much better at varnishing (wooden boats) by hand. If they would prefer an oiled surface, then, all the better.

Maybe I'll try the lacquer thinners first. Any particular brand, type or grade? I usually get the "right" thinners already WITH the two-pack varnish for the boats and I've seen what the "wrong" thinners can do!

recipio

Cheers.
Plain cheap gun cleaning lacquer thinner is worth a try. ( You can get thinners to mix with lacquers which are too expensive to waste )
It never ceases to amaze me what it will remove. Otherwise you will have to use Nitromors varnish and lacquer remover.
If you can find a company that sells to the trade, prices are reasonable. I suspect you are going to have to take it back to bare wood and start again.

BrensBenz

Thanks again, recipio - plain old lacquer thinners it is so.

Unfortunately, I've never really got on with Nitromors on wood, although it did a great job on an old lawn mower I was restoring! After my skin healed, I bought a heat gun for old varnish and paint and found that it reduced my visits to A&E substantially!

However, I'm scared that the heat gun would lift or damage the veneer on the table so, maybe a pre-sanding, then lacquer thinners, wire wool and elbow grease to bare wood. Looking forward to it!