gracie - i'm going to leak out my secret early.. i'm picking up the chair tonight!!!! :) :) almost embarrassed to mention that now since i made such a deal about this or that, not both. the vehicle repairs etc ended up not being near as much as we had anticipated. My b-day is coming up ... and DH was in a really good mood last night. He was just like,"why don't you see if they still have that chair you're drooling over and go get it" yay! I'm surprised it's not gone! so mahogany...

Just in case anyone ever runs into the same problem, I called the number on the back of the can and spoke to a tech service rep yesterday. He said that when you use RAF on wood that is very dry, it can absorb a whole lot of oil initially, then over the next 3-4 days, some of the oil and pigment will bleed back out til the wood finds its "equilibrium" (the word he used!). So he said to just keep buffing off the brown color and it should stop after 3-4 days. If it doesn't stop, he said I could go over it with a coat of wax, but that would make it shinier than it is now, and I like the sheen as is, so I'd rather not do that. There's also something they sell that you can clean the finish so if worst comes to worst, I can try that, but he said that will dull it down some. So anyhow, I'm just going to keep buffing it for a few days and see what happens. Thanks for the input!

I've used RAF on several old pieces of furniture and love it. IMO it's better than other polishes/scratch "removers". I think you might be able to get similar results by using mineral spirits and fine steel wool, then a scratch remover, then a polish, but it's an all in one product. I'll continue to use it as am very happy with the results. I don't believe there is silicone in RAF but I know it says on the can that you shouldn't try to poly after using it. I don't think it does much to an already poly'd finish except to cover scratches. Since I'm not a fan of poly'd finishes I don't plan to have any more than I already do.

luv, He just used a citrus-based (orange something) cleaner. Our cabinets were in good condition structurally, and they didn't look terrible, but we had a few places where they showed wear---one was near the sink, where I think water probably wore away at the finish. After 20+ years, I assume that whatever protective surface might have been put on the cabinets must have worn off, because the stain definitely did sink in. He applied the stain as you normally would---rubbing on a small amount, then rubbing off any excess. If you decide to try this, I would definitely test it first in an inconspicuous spot, or maybe even on a cabinet elsewhere in the house (especially useful if they used the same cabinets there as the ones in the kitchen). DH tested ours before committing to doing all the cabinets, and it seemed to work fine. The final urethane coat is important, too, as it is what gave the cabinets a finished look and, I presume, will protect the cabinets. I was honestly amazed that it worked. I really thought we'd have to sand and restain. I don't know if this method will work for all wood cabinets, but it turned out great for us. We did not try to darken our cabinets significantly, as I did not want dark cabinets in my kitchen, so if you are trying to do something to hide the fact that you have oak cabinets, it might not be satisfactory for you. We still have golden oak, the grain still stands out, but it looks much better.