Thread: Old kitchen pine table - how to finish it with the motor oil soaked section

Deck cleaner (oxalic acid) might tone down the motor oil.
Or it might not. You'd have to ty it.

Hi Arron,
I used that many years ago on removing dried out oil on the western red cedar house cladding/ I will look into that. Thank you.

Automotive degreaser might help get rid of the motor oil first, before you try to finish the top. Or carby cleaner from repco, that stuff will remove just about anything.
Used motor oil seems like an unlikely thing to have on your table!.
Someone strip down a motor on it?.

I have a couple of items that were in various states of disrepair/ neglect when I acquired them.

One is an old NSW teacher's desk from the late forties made from hoop pine. It had inks stains, tracing wheel marks,
razor blade cuts and various dings all over the top. When stripped back to bare wood I quickly realized that getting rid of the history ws not an option.
I left the marks there precisely because they are the history of the table and this has been an interesting conversation starter.

The second item Is an old Kauri pine wardrobe that I converted to a china/ display cabinet. It was originally coated in a black "varnish" that had long since
crackled extensively. On stripping the unit back I discovered several patches of oil staining. I knew the unit had been stored in a farm shed so figured the it
had had oily rags draped over the top whereas others had been left on the benches between which the wardrobe was set. At first my heart sank a little but
some cleaning and sanding removed the worst of the stains.

I took the same attitude as I had with the desk - the marks were its history and so I was quite happy to give the whole unit two coats of Cabot's Danish oil.

Removing stains and marks is ultimately a matter of choice. It is pretty obvious from what I have said that I would simply remove the worst of the stain with
minimal disturbance and finish. I like history.

BobL has posted about used engine oil on a number of occasions.

IIRC, it's not particularly healthy -- so maybe seal the top on both faces with shellac and then think about a finish over the shellac.

You could try metho and a scrubbing brush or warm water and detergent and perhaps a pressure washer and scrubbing brush. It might take a bit

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