What to do?
Does anyone know how I can get rid of the whitening (ghosting?) under the varnish in the photo below, without stripping the surface?

.
"White marks indicate that water has penetrated the surface of the finish. An easy method of removing white marks is to use mayonnaise. Cover and rub the white mark with mayonnaise and leave overnight and it will magically disappear overnight."

from:
http://www.essortment.com/furniture-repair-removing-stains-l...

I have used a paste
of cigarette ash and some rubbing and it worked very well. I have also been told the same with baking soda as well as the mayo. The other I have heard is heat. Have not tried that yet.

"I can't explain it,
but I'm suddenly hankering for a grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce and burnishing cream on whole wheat toast."

me too now you mention it.

Ooh, Daniel, is there a DA food network?
Don't make me post my grilled portabella marinade recipe. You'll be sorry.

BTW, the day you find me slathering condiments on fine furniture is the day you can nail me into a pine box.

I didn't have you down as a pine man, tktoo
Are you also not curious as to whether the Mayo trick actually works? I am.

I'll be back tomorrow, asking how to remove oil marks.

I bought this.
It was next to the Burnishing cream.

Reckon it'll taste lovely with my poached salmon.
http://www.liberon.co.uk/retouch-and-revive/ring-remover,43D...

Admittedly, I'm more of a rosewood and teak type
tempered by a Naugahyde and pine income, alas.

Please pass the Grey Poupon!

Edited to change "gray" to "grey". I nearly forgot that this is an English-speaking crowd.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho61-oaU6wo&feature=endscreen

Grey Puopon and naugahyde sound divine together!


Why not?, I say. I have good teeth, afterall.

well well and
lastly well

the mayo nogo. The DRY iron? Much better. Really quite remarkable. Some sites said use water, but that made me nervous, so just a clean cotton thingy and an iron set to high. Found the right amount of time to be just about 1 minute. KEEP IT MOVING. Pretty cool, or hot, or whatever.

I found interesting
that, even though I think the finish on the table is original (it does not look like it has EVER been worked on) when hot it smelled quite a bit like Polyurethane.

Anyway, for this piece it was significantly better than Mayo. And I had such hope for Mayo! I did buy some artichokes today so the boy can use the Mayo for dipping purposes.

The cigar ash trick used to be tossed out as gospel, too.
I remember trying it on a desk I had placed near an old radiator with a faulty valve that sprayed steam at it when I was away. I assumed it was meant as a mild abrasive, but it did little, if anything, to restore the finish. I was lucky that it was shellac and easily reconstituted with a 1 lb. cut wash coat of same.

Evaporative films like shellac or lacquer are relatively easy. Finishes that "dry" by process of conversion such as many varnishes with synthetic resins like polyurethane are more tricky. Especially since formulas are often proprietary and there's simply no way to know exactly what's in these modern products. Most "Danish Oil" finishes today contain some of these resins, BTW, making them more accurately "wiping varnishes".

I don't know enough about organic chemistry or the science of modern furniture conservation to be able to recommend an appropriate approach to every problem. I have worked with enough conservators over the years to have a fairly good idea of what shouldn't be done, however. Though not one has ever told me directly never to smear food products on valuable furniture, I've certainly never heard of such a thing being done in a professional conservation lab. At least not intentionally.

Without experts to consult, we're stuck with the lore and alchemy of home-spun remedies and concoctions from the hardware stores. To put things in perspective, most of us are not dealing with museum pieces. If the proof is in the pudding, all the better. And if we really muck things up, there are always pros out there counting on us to keep them in business.