Before you do anything, wash the entire table with a dish detergent. There is a lot of grime that has built up over the years. It is particularly noticeable at the ends of the top. But getting this grime off will help with the rest of the refinishing process.

Do you want to change the color?

First, washing the top is a good idea. Dry thoroughly. Use a bit of rubbing alcohol(vodka also works) and rub a spot to see if any finish comes off(not dirt, finish). If it does, the finish is shellac(but I doubt it).

Removing finish by sanding is not a productive process, as the sand paper gums rapidly and has to be changed often(in as little as 15-20 seconds). That means stripping is the better choice. The non toxic types are fine, but it may take two applications. And you will need to do the edges as well. Tape the underside along the edges to minimize stripper creep. After following stripper manufacturers instructions, once the top is dry, use a random orbit sander or hand sander block(follow the grain hand sanding) with 100 grit until the wood is clean. Then sand again with 150 grit. That is the grit surface most recommended for staining, since using finer sandpaper closes the grain more, meaning stain penetration is less.

If that is oak(and it looks more like pine/etc. to me as well), sanding is not going to remove the finish from the grooves (natural oak grain characteristics), which will prevent new stain from working. If it is pine/etc. there may be some residual stain left, unless a lot of wood is removed.

You can see the differences in the color of the different grain sections, that will still happen. Reason is the differences in grain density, the lighter stripes are harder than the darker because more stain was absorbed by the softer stripes.

Using a wiping stain can let you control color, Apply, wait five minutes, wipe off. Want it darker, apply more stain, wait longer.

I favor non poly varnish(paint or hardware stores), since it is easily applied and can be spot repaired. Polyurethane is a form of plastic and chips more easily and is almost impossible to spot repair.

Thanks for your suggestions. The table and chairs were sold to me as oak, and my decorator said it was oak. They are about 30 years old. The finish seems to have gotten soft - I can scrape it off with my fingernail. I do not want to change the color.

Any recommendations on specific brands of stripper or stain, or instructional how-to websites? I am completely new at this.

A poster here, Beth, who does a lot of refinishing recommends a soy based low odor stripper - but I don't know if she goes with any particular brand name. I have used CitriStrip and Zinsser's citrus stripper - low odor environmentally safe strippers, but Beth says the soy stripper is better.

It is messy and will remove the finish on anything it touches, so tape off and well cover parts you do not want to refinish.

@Beth H. can you help with a recommendation?

Hi @Beth H. ! Over a year ago you gave me good advice to use soy-gel to strip the top of my oak table. I did it today and it worked very well, although there are a few small spots where I need to re-do it tomorrow. Hope you don't mind me asking for more advice.

The grain is raised and I have read that I need to sand it lightly with fine sandpaper. The stain seems a bit uneven now so I think I need to re-stain it overall, although I do not want to change the color. Then a coat of polyurethane? Any tips or product recommendations will be gratefully received and followed!

I sent you PM. let me know if you need any more info.

take a pic so I can see what it looks like after u used the stripper.

Thanks for the advice! Will do!

Beth any suggestions of what stain type to buy? Preferably something that is not high VOC because I am doing it indoors with the windows open. Brand recommendations welcome too but I am in Canada so may not have the same brands.

partim,,,oil based stains are pretty much the same as far as VOC. I like General finishes and Varathane best.

you could try a water base gel stain,,,,the odor isn't too bad.

General Finishes has quite a few.

another option is Aniline Dye. it's a powder you mix w/water. no odor at all. any wood working shop will have those

I had some challenges stripping off the finish - perhaps I did not leave it on long enough. At any rate, it needs to be sanded which I have not done yet. As always, your advice is appreciated!

Sanding completed. I like like the light color and the grain, and have decided not to stain, but just apply a matte finish. I know that stain would even things out but I actually like the variation in the plank colors and the wood "imperfections".

Thanks to Beth H. and the other very helpful posters here for your experienced advice. After a frustrating experience at Home Depot, I purchased products and received excellent advice at my local Benjamin Moore store. They had lots of patience for my newbie questions.

following

The gummy finish indicated it was a lacquer finish...popular a few years back. Deft was one of the products. So lacquer thinner would have wiped the finish off as easily as wiping up spilled syrup.
It's obvious the table is oak and I knew that from your first post, because it didn't have any dents and scratches in it as soft pine would have.
any finish will "wet" the surface and give it some color....I like the natural oak.
Use several coats of finish, allowing to dry and rubbing with 10 ought steel wool between coats. It'll be lovely!

Thanks Linda for the info on the lacquer finish - some of the chairs still have spots of gummy finish and I will probably tackle them in the spring when I can take them outside to work on them. Yes it is definitely oak - it was hard as a rock to sand smooth!

I ended up buying my stain and topcoat from a local family company, Goudey, who has been making stains and finishes for 75 years in Toronto where I live. They also sell direct to the public from their factory location too, so I went there and had superb customer service on selecting the color and also the application.

Here is the finished product. It's not 100% perfect but a pretty good job for a newbie if I do say so myself. Again, thanks to all for your help!