Well, we got a ton of reader tips on refinishing furniture. I do it all the time and just love it!

I am in the middle of doing my “new” dining room table and will post the results later this week.
Here are a few tips that I wanted to pass along from readers.

This is the method I used. Tawra

In my experience, when polyurethaning a wood table
top, there are three things you MUST do to keep the
finish nice and a few suggestions.
First, you HAVE to keep your coats of polyurethane
thin or light.
Second, you HAVE to let it dry completely between
coats. This can take as little as 12 hours to as
much as a week, depending on the humidity of where
you are refinishing your piece. You will know it is
dry when it is no longer tacky to the touch - if it
seems at all sticky, let it dry longer. Fans can
help speed up this process, but you have to be
careful not to blow dirt at your piece!
Third, you HAVE to sand between coats. This isn’t
power sanding mind you. 400 grit sand paper on an
orbital sander (being careful to move lightly and
quickly) or some steel wool. You are accomplishing
two things with the sanding - removing any air
bubbles that may have developed and ’scuffing’ the
surface to better take the next coat of
polyurethane.
I typically do four coats of poly on a table top,
because they have to endure so much. I also
hand-rub my poly on. Meaning I use a rag (or
heavy-duty paper towel) to literally rub the poly
onto the table top. It helps me keep the layers of
polyurethane thin. I get my pieces to dry within
12-24 hours between coats by polyurethaning in an
air conditioned room (that I can shut off from the
rest of the house) when it is humid outside. I
prefer oil-based polyurethane and I am a fan of
Minwax, because I feel it gives the smoothest
finish. However, if the piece will get sunlight, be
aware that all oil-based polyurethanes will yellow
over time if sitting in the sun.
If you don’t like to polyurethane and want a
one-coat option, you could always do a resin finish
on top. Only comes in high gloss finish, very very
durable (like 100 coats of poly), but it is tricky
to put on without any air bubbles and requires
pretty constant baby sitting in the first 12 hours.
But, then you’re done!
Good luck with your piece!

For your tabletop, may I recommend foregoing the urethane? Sand, wipe with denatured alcohol, stain if desired, then put linseed oil on it. It will take a day or two for the linseed oil to dry.

This is how furniture artisans do a hand rub. I think you will like the result, and it is easy to repair the little damages that occur with kids.

The other thing you can do if you do not want to use linseed oil is just to use a hard wax. You can hard wax the top about once a month and have a beautiful piece. Hard wax is actually what Baker furniture recommends for its fine bench-made items.

In any case, do NOT use a water based urethane. It will not last; is poisonous, and generally a pain.

Good luck,
Sharon W.

From: Sheila R.

I am happy to hear the hints about doing your
table , I am currently trying to re-do our
kitchen table. With 3 boys in the family , it has
taken quite a beaten over the years and was
looking so sad. So instead of replacing it I
decided to re-do it.

Also we were short chairs
because one had broken and having 5 in the family
there of course were not enough. I looked at
getting the same kind , however they could be as
much as $150 a piece , so I held off for a
while . I am now working part-time at a scratch
and dent and new used furniture store. We had some
really nice chairs come in that were new. I got
the 6 of them for $185 plus tax. I felt that was
really good. Now I will have a whole new look for
a much lesser cost. Thanks again. Have a great
day.

Hi Tawra, it is me, sheila from back int he old Frugal Friends days, remember me? I saw on your blog that you got a dinning room table. I can tell you what I did. i have awful luck with poly urethane… so it depends on the table style, but mine is kind of rustic looking so this worked- I just put antiquing oil on it, several coats. It gives a shine and protects it but you don’t have to strip it to add more, you can just add more whenever you want. Gee I hope that makes sense.

Sheila Pierson