Hi Kathrine. It seems like you are well on your way to a solution already, but I would like to clear some of the fog. First, I would like to address oil and wax finishes. Although they do produce a decent finish, they take forever to cure, they will need to be renewed eventually, and they offer little to no protection (when compared to a film finish). In a kitchen, durability is usually the big concern and pure tung oil simply doesnt have a place there. Now if you have a nice antique hall table that you dont mind babying, tung oil and wax could be a good choice. But with the amazing array of beautiful finish options available today, its hard to believe tung oil (and boiled linseed oil), still find their way into our homes. That being said, I am glad you went with the Waterlox. Despite the incorrect information Minwax gave you, Waterlox is not all that different from a wiping polyurethane. Waterlox actually contains little to no tung oil at all. It does, however, contain a resin that is derived from oil and is a close relative to polyurethane. Many woodworkers like this particular resin better because it is less "plastic-looking" than standard polyurethane. So what you have actually done is exactly what I would have recommended: you top-coated your tung oiled surface with a wiping varnish. This varnish will give your cabinets the protection they need from oil, grease, heat, water, and cleaning agents. A level of protection that tung oil cannot provide. And one note to the folks who were discussing "food-safe" finishes. Nearly all film finishes are food safe once cured. If you are a bit skeptical, there are FDA-approved varnishes available (usually labelled salad bowl finish), that will offer much more protection and durability than oil and wax. I apologize for the blitz of information. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask away. Marc

Bob's advise is good. May I add. If you owned the table since new and have access to wax containers that have been used,read the label to see if it contains silicon. If no,count yourself lucky and follow Bob's instructions. If any wax used on the table over ist's life contained silicone,you must A. Discard or clean any tool used during the refinish you will use here. B. Once you have done everything to the table like sanding that you plan before appling new coat(s) of finish,wipe the table off with a cleaner desighned to remove silicon in preperation for paint. And that probably covers about 10% of what you need to know in order to do a creditable job. The upside is the learning process. If and when you have piece you are thinking of redoing, before starting,tell us; What it is,what it's worth,why you are redoing,how well you want it to turn out,is it solid wood or veneer,is it stained,and any thing else you can think of. That will result in some questions directed to you. After some back and forth,a plan will be formulated and your hand will be held all the way to completion. Now that you won't think I'm brushing you aside,here is a truth about refinishing furniture. True artisians of woodworking turn down more pieces than they take on. A few reasons are,it will cost more than the piece is worth,the factory finish is one that is impossiable to repair, they offer the owner an easier solution than reinishing and the one we wish was the reason he/she refuses to refinish our piece,it is so valuable as is that refinishing will ruin it. My kids say I take the all fun out of it with my fussing. I hope I didn't for you.

Lemon oil is a popular product which many people seem to like. But there are just as many people who say not to use it. I personally have no information or experience with it, but if I wanted to maintain "bare" wood with only an oil finish, I'd use either tung or linseed oil. Tung and linseed oils are well-accepted and non-controversial for wood finishing. However... that said, if you've been using lemon oil and are happy, then thre's no reason to stop on my account. For anyone interested in learning more about wood finishing, I would highly recommend a book by Bob Flexner called "Understanding Wood Finishing". Here's a quote from an article I found online that mentions lemon oil: WAX THE PERFECT PROTECTION for FURNITURE ?Original article from: Wood Magazine JUNE 1989 From a refinishing pro, a preservation expert, and Furniture manufacturers, the answer seems to be "yes." "Wax is the wear and tear, abrasion layer of fine wood furniture," says Ron Ashby, a professional woodworker, refinisher, lecturer, and owner of Wood Finish Supply in Mendocino, California. "superficial scratches, dings, and dents should happen to the wax layer-not the finish you slaved over." DON'T DABBLE IN DUST Despite the multitude of furniture care products that promise to "feed" or "polish" your fine furniture, Ashby believes high-quality furniture wax is the best choice. "All the other care products available attract dust with the residue they leave behind," he says. At Virginia's Colonial Williamsburg, Wallace Gusler, director of conservation, oversees the preservation of authentic colonial furniture. "Our primary concern with pieces that have an intact, original finish is conservation," he says. "For that, we use wax. And, Gusler believes, all wood furniture, not just historic pieces, deserves wax protection. "Everyone collects furniture to some extent, he notes, "But their collection happens to be their household furniture." What about lemon oil, another popular wood-care product? Gusler says, "The value of oil to wood is folklore. Of course, oil gives a wood finish a superficial shine, but it isn't beneficial. In fact," he elaborates, "Commercial lemon oil has nothing to do with lemons. It's essentially kerosene, and can be harmful to a finish."

Tina - as I remember them, the floors were not shiny but had a lovely mellow glow. As I'm reading more about wax floors (and talking to my brother who is 11 yrs older and remembers more about them) I'm rethinking this. Not all the boards can or should be long, they should be mixed lengths and ideally 2 adjacent boards ends don't line up and the butt joints are all staggered. catspa your description brought back some memories of wiping doggy paws in the winter to get the snow off them so the floors aren't ruined! awm you have to tell me about your Waterlox experience - that's one of the finishes I'm considering but no idea if we'll find anyone here who's experienced with it. I'm not after shine, not interested in matte, want something in between and if we end up with a poly again it'll be a satin finish. I won't do a water based again, had that on the natural maple in our old house and didn't care for it. The oak floors had oil based poly and it held up much better but at least part of that is the nature of oak - it's a VERY forgiving wood for flooring. Still trying to wrap my brain around this reality - I was determined that we'd buy existing and remodel but small-ish house, big land, reasonable distance to town, not in a subdivision and so on proved to be a fantasy. I'll need input for sure and I'm afraid of getting input for sure IYKWIM!! Deb