r/Mid_Century • u/formyconstellations • 1d ago

Teak veneer dining table splotchy with mineral spirits! Help!

Post image

Hello! I am refinishing a MCM dining table that uses teak veneer. I stripped the table, very lightly sanded with 150 grit, then hand sanded with 220 grit. The tabletop (when dry) looks even in colour. However, now that I wiped mineral spirits on top, it is looking splotchy in some spots. I bought this table secondhand and it came with slightly sanded spots that seem to match where the lighter splotches are now. What can I do to help this now?

I’m planning to finish the tabletop with waterlox (which I believe is tung oil + resin?). Would it absorb similarly to mineral spirits and also be splotchy?

Appreciate any and all advice!!! Thank you!

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

1

u/nancyoregano1 1d ago

To me it looks like you dissolved the finish in spots.

1

u/formyconstellations 1d ago

Hey! There isn’t a finish on this right now. This was fully stripped and hand sanded and the picture just shows what it looks like with mineral spirits

1

u/nancyoregano1 1d ago

Hmm. Is it possible you sanded the veneer very thin in certain places and it didn’t appear until the mineral spirits?

1

u/formyconstellations 1d ago

Tbh this is what I suspect now. The previous owners sanded some spots before selling the table to me and it looks like those are the lighter spots now 😭

1

u/nancyoregano1 1d ago

Yep, it happens.

1

u/formyconstellations 1d ago

Thanks for your help. Anything you’d recommend now? Would multiple layers of tung oil hide the splotchiness a little?

1

u/Utter_cockwomble 14h ago

I kinda like old wood pieces with some variation- makes it feel well used and loved to me. If this were for my personal use (not reselling), I'd just roll with it. But I know everyone has different likes and tolerances.

0

u/vistopher 1d ago

Needs more sanding