How do I make worn wood look new?

[Caspooka]

Hello, I recently bought these wooden tables as a small DIY project. Wanted to refresh them and make them look new again. They have a couple of watermarks on the surface and the varnish(?) looks a bit worn in areas.

Do I need to sand it back and re-oil/varnish it? What products do I need to keep the natural look? Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

[JacobZ]

Hi @Caspooka,

Thank you for your question and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is wonderful to have you with us.

My advice would be to start with an 80 grit sandpaper to remove the bulk of the top layer of varnish before moving up to 120 or 160 grit to smooth and finish off the sanding.

This can be done with Sandpaper Rolls, or it can be sped up with the use of a random orbital sander.

Once the timber is sanded back to raw timber, brush the surface down to remove any residual saw dust. 

There is a wide variety of products that can be used to coat the timber while maintaining a natural look. My personal favourite is Gilly's 100% Pure Tung Oil, however there are other great options such as Gilly's Liquid Beeswax, Cabot's Clear Danish Oil or Feast Watson Clear Outdoor Furniture Oil.

You might like to have a read through How To Restore Wooden Furniture and How To Restore A Timber Table In A Few Easy Steps for some further guidance.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob