That's a lovely table, so simple and elegant, it's great to give it a new life. Lowe's and Home Depot carry simple rub-on refinishing/restaining products (maybe Formby's?) that might restore that top. There's also the old stand-by "Old English" in both light and dark shades.

Also, in my experience, the best thing to do in this situation is to get a glass top made for it, either in one large or two half-pieces. The glass will give the refinished top full protection and significantly prolong its life. When my son bought his first condo, I gave him my Mom's solid walnut table and had a glass cut for it, and so very glad I did, because that table got lots of daily use over the years, (roommates!) and it still looks great. If it were mine, I'd hesitate to paint the legs since the dings would be more noticeable.

I love those legs! I’ve never used rub n buff, but have used Restor-a-finish on a dresser that had similar gouges and spotting and it definitely improved the appearance. Only problem is that if it doesn’t work, it leaves a coating that may affect the use of other products.

I's probably give it a light sanding and then a couple of coats of Odie's Oil. Brings out the beauty of the woodgrain like crazy, seals and protects the wood. Takes at least 2 if not 3 coats to make waterproof. A jar will cost more than the table but it goes a long way and can be used on many things.

Adding: I have used Restor-a-Finish and at first thought it was great stuff, but long term or for anything with significant issues, it will have limited success. It is basically a thinner with colorant, so it is thinning your existing finis and trying to blend in, but you don't get a real finish and the color fades. I've posted photos of my sewing cabinet and table where I used Odie's 4 years ago. It is the best finish I've had on a wood piece - and the easiest.

I cleaned my wood table with Glass Plus (NOT Windex!), and paper towels. I had used Pledge for years and the white rings and most scratches were in the stuff Pledge left behind.

ETA: mine is solid pine.

Cannot use the word g-00-k. Why I do not know???? Means thick sticky mess to me.

It depends on what the table top is made of - is it laminate, veneer or solid wood?

Sadly, that's also an ethnic slur, Sherry.

I've used Restor-A-Finish too, and this:

The only Rub& Buff I'm familiar with is metallic...?

@Sherry8aNorthAl, because it's a deragatory, racist term.

Slur for what???!! Everything is a slur and who can keep up with whatever.

What race? I have no idea what y’all mean!

Sherry, what you are talking about, which is also "gunk" is probably spelled guck. They way you are spelling it, it is almost like the N word, used to describe Koreans and Vietnamese during those two wars.

I suspect the top is a laminate. We don’t need perfection, just maybe some degree of improvement.

I think it's veneer. Laminate will scratch but it does not get water rings and stains on it like wood.

I have a 1920s Jacobean buffet I use Howard Restor-A-Finish on, as well as the wax Carol posted above. Every few years, I reapply.

I’m no pro, but have had good results with it. I think it would work well on your son’s pretty table.

It's usually used with the word "up".

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gook_up

I would go the Howard's route. I haven't used it but I've seen it recommended so often that I know its name.

Thanks, everyone.

And I don’t know why I said rub n buff. In my head I was thinking restore a finish!

I like the lines of the table ... it will look great with the top refinished and could see it with painted legs! Maybe black or teal? What color are you thinking?

There is also the difference in pronunciation. Making a mess is pronouned more like Uh and the slur is pronounce Ooo

Sherry, maybe you meant goop?

Hey Sue, did you ever use the RAF? I don’t know that it would work on laminate. I tried it on a vintage side table that had a poly finish, and it didn’t work on that. It didn’t remove the rings or help the overall look.

That said, I used it recently on my buffet. It had a badly scratched and beat up wax finish and I know I’m never going to properly refinish it or pay to have it done so I thought, what the heck.

I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. I used Howard Feed-N-Wax afterwards.

This turned out to be a timely post. DS is joining us at our PA place this weekend to pick up this drop leaf walnut table for his new house - new to him, the house was built in 1962. It's an old table that we bought thirty years ago for an apartment over the garage. DH told him to use a fine sandpaper first. But he wasn't sure what to use for a finish.

Lascatx's Odie's Oil sound promising. Even in the current condition the grain is beautiful. He's taking the chairs too, they're really comfortable but rather small.

Somehow I thought I had some RAF or similar in our basement but, as I discovered when we were leaving, I was wrong. All I had was some Method brand wood cleaner. It looked better after using that and DS is totally fine with how it looks now. It isn’t perfect he’s not picky.

Marie_cate, I'm going to try to include a couple of photos so you can see what I mean about the Odie's. This was my mother's office desk that sat unclaimed after she and my dad passed and my sister and exBIL were divocing. They bought my dad's business and in the divorce, he took the business and she got the building. As he moved out, he held a sale and had people coming through to buy the furniture he didn't want to take with him. After nearly everything was gone, my mother's desk sat there. It was a place for me to toss my purse and keys when we went to work on the clean up or meet the realtors and we sat on it because there were not chairs. We didn't care -- it looked worn and sad - and the color wasn't very pretty. I couldn't leave it there to be trashed when the place sold, so I brought it home. I had to do some light sanding because the finish was worn off and the wood was a bit rough in the center of her work area, but I didn't want a major project and I didn't want to take the wood down and risk causing more damage than doing good. I'd used Restor-a-finish before and knew it worked on some things and not others - and it doesn't last, so I researched my approach and tracked down Odie's at a woodworking shop not too far away. I don't have a before, but this would never ahve been left behind for junk -- and all I used on it was Odie's.

This is one of two old sewing machine cabinets I didn't want to put a lot of time into adn gave a quick face lift with Odie's. I cleaned the top, gave it a light sanding and then applied Odie's. I couldn't believe the difference and stopped to take this photo. The top half is the sanded before and the bottom is with one coat of Odie's. Obviously, it can't create something that isn't there, but it sure seems to make the best of the wood.

I've had that desk/table of my mom's in my sewing room for years now and the finish is still great.

@maire_cate Those are fabulous chairs.

@lascatx What Odie's product do you use? I scrolled back up to see, but don't see another post by you. Lovely wood grain on both of yours.

I started using Howard's a few years ago.

Thanks Lascatx for that info. What a transformation, just stunning. That's a lovely story about saving your Mother's desk. I looked up Odie's Oil and was surprised to learn that it's carried by a woodworking store (Rockler Woodworking) that recently opened a few miles away.

Allison - those chairs have really nice lines and had been re-upholstered when we purchased them.. When we built the detached garage and the second floor apartment we thought it would get more use over the years. But we're happy that they'll now be used in DS's home.

DH and I really love old furniture - they just have more character and are usually better quality.

Marie_cate beautiful table and chairs! Lucky son!

Rockler is where I bought the jar I used on those two projects. I used the original oil, also called the universal finish (link for photo). There is a dark version of the same product and I later bought that to try to restore my grandmother's sewing cabinet. I had the machine that was in my mother's tings, but somewhere along the way, my nephew got the cabinet and stool. They apparently never used it and kept it in the garage in the Texas heat with the embossed vinyl seat stored upside down on top of the cabinet. When he offeredd it back to me, I took it in a heartbeat and then saw this.

It was awful, but I had to try. I did a light sanding all over and then a litttle more in the damaged area which still showed a trace of the pattern and was lighter overall. I remembered the dark oil and bought some to usein the center and applied the natural around the rest of the cabinet. The end result was passable -- a casual looker probably wouldn't notice anything. The patterns is gone but I can see the story of the generations in it if I look for it or the sun is highlightng it. The once patterend area is still a little lighter is you see it in the sun. I just went and looked at it and standing 2 feet away, it loooked good, Standing where the sun would hit it, it glows a bit in the center. I may hit it with another coat of the dark Odie's inthe center and then park it in front of the window again. It isn't perfect, but it is where my grandmother sat to make the most incredible clothed for our dolls and other things. She made a halter neck ivory satin wedding gown for my Barbie without a pattern and it still amazes me. I know the summer will go too fast, but I'd like to get the machine back in the cabinet now, learn to clean it and try using it.