We received a beautiful little dining set from my Aunt Brenda for our wedding seven years ago. We have used that table almost nonstop since then, and the finish was starting to show all the use.
You could use a fingernail to scratch off the soft finish. If you set down a newspaper for too long, you'd get a newspaper print left on the surface that wouldn't come off no matter how much elbow grease applies. It looked pretty bad and I'm sure everyone who came to visit wondered why I never washed the table.
So this weekend Michael had a free hour or two and decided to refinish the top of the table. He had help:
The table top is now a much lighter shade and so beautiful. I'll try and get a photo and update this page later so you can see how fantastic it turned out. Now we all agree he's got to finish the rest of the table! Maybe after all his big assignments are done for the semester.