I use Guardsman Polish (I generally buy concentrate by the case). It does have some mild cleaning action. Whether or not it's enough for your bookcase, only trial will tell. Below is a good article on cleaning. That would be my approach if the polish does not work. If I need to kick it up a bit, I use Guardsman's "Kitchen Cabinet Wipes." These are just awesome. I've cleaned stuff that had already been cleaned 5 times with Murphy's Oil Soap and they came up black in a square foot or so of cleaning. Here is a link that might be useful: Saving the FInish

I just had a rift and quarter sawn mix floor installed. There's a lot of rift pieces that I thought were quarter and vice versa. My builder could tell better than me which was which and could show me the angle of the grain on the end to show for sure. Oak is tricky, I think. I have several logs I need to have milled (don't worry, I hugged them before they came down). I've asked several mills about quarter sawing them and they say you don't know if the wood will have rays until you start sawing.

The end product when you saw logs at the mill is only slightly under the sawyer's control, because the growth rings/grain vary at points throughout the log. Only riftsawn veneer is a reliable way to get that one particular grain format, because they cull through hundreds of pieces and get the veneer mill running just right. In 1890, they had enormous white oak tree trunks to pick through, which yielded unimaginably (in 2000's) wide and flecky planks of Q-sawn. If you want picture perfect matched rift grain, either use veneer or be prepared to have the costs skyrocket, because the cabinetmaker will have to pick through piles of lumber to get the best matching grain.

North Iowa here.. What no one on this thread understands is there are no "green spaces" here. We have Habitat ReStore. We have Menard's or maybe Lowe's or Home Depot. Iowa people help each other all the time. Craig's list has junk. I did a kitchen gut 10+ years ago with Menard's hickory cabinets and laminate counters. No back splash. Existing Vinyl floor. Used my just fine white appliances. My house was built in 1880 so no open concept here. My kitchen is a room. A small room by comparison to almost all kitchens on here. I had a handyman who worked cheap. I had known him for at least 30 years so when I left for work I knew he'd deal with whatever came along. He was gone when I got home and I did clean up. I also did the gutting of the old kitchen; dead mice in the light fixture but he warned me about the potential so I was prepared. Maybe I was very, very lucky but I got a great kitchen for $10,000. I don't know what inflation would do to that price today. Compared to what I started with I now have a palace. You are a long way from final plans and I think you will do just fine. It takes a lot of price comparison shopping to get there. And shopping on eBay and Menard's sales. Don't over look the consignment shops. If you do Menard's cabinets wait until they have the 11% off. If you visit the cabinet people there regularly and tweak your layout, you will find people you really like and who like you and they will tell you when the sales are coming up. You can also make your own laminate counters for cheap. I didn't do that 4 inch backsplash thing and even though I didn't do any other kind of backsplash, I'm glad I didn't add it. Right now I have wallpaper but I'm thinking I might tile some paneling that's cut to fit so that if I get tired of it I can pull it off and put something else there.