My table is now finally stained. It's a shame I no longer have my digicam for pics.

It is paccawood (from the rubber tree), stained with many coats of ebony-colored Minwax Wood Finish (http://www.minwax.com/products/woodstain/woodfinish.cfm) (oil-based) and then topped with a few coats of Minwax Polycrylic (http://www.minwax.com/products/protective/polycrylic.cfm) clearcoat.

What polish should I use? Is Pledge (http://www.pledge.com/) fine? I read that tung oil is recommended.

seems like if you have an acrylic coating, oil isn't going to do anything for you. it won't soak through to the wood like it's supposed to, will it?

pledge is fine, but it builds up over time. makes it shiny and slick.

you're probably okay with just a damp rag and then a chamois cloth or microfiber.

Parawood, you mean?

Tung oil is great as a finish, and to refresh oil finishes -- as fb noted, not good on top of an acrylic, and it might never dry! Really anything should be fine that isn't a penetrating oil.

Regards,
Huntsma

Depending on how badly the table is stained, you might consider sanding down the top and refinishing the surface. It's relatively easy to do with a small palm sander...

I agree that Pledge will not do much for you in this case and I doubt that my other favorite, http://www.scottsliquidgold.com/ will do much for you either.

Thanks. Although I am very pleased with the table it sounds like I could have gotten a better stain. I might sell it at a profit and buy another one.

Here's a reply from my uncle who makes furniture:

Pledge is fine, or any of the orange oil, oil/wax,
furniture care polishes. With PU topcoats he could use pretty much anything
with no problems. Just wipe it on and buff it off - no big deal. If he
wants to build a finish over time he could use Briwax Natural or another
hard wax and build several coats which will buff to whatever sheen he wants,
but it's hardly worth it. Wipe and go is my vote.

agree with everyone here who says that once you have an acrylic finish, then oils are somewhat pointless. For future reference, though, our woodworking shop guys (who deal exclusively with high-end hardwoods) recommend 2-3 coats of tung oil to bring out the natural colors of the grain. Then once it is well soaked in, a couple of them prefer (ready for this?) turtle wax. That's right - the kind that you're supposed to put on your car!

I've not tried it yet, but since they made our latest merchandising display rack, I'm going to give it a try once I get around to it. I'll let ya know how it goes!

Minwax is a good stain and finish.

Tung oil is a finish, not a wax or polish. As others mentioned, too late for it now.

Lemon oil is pretty standard. We've always been fond of Butcher's Wax in my family to build up coats of wax over time.

I agree with J's uncle -- wipe and go!