Soapy Water and a Scrubbee

We repurposed our butcher block dining room table years ago to Karen’s art work. With a couple of riser blocks to get the top up to 36″ from the floor (compared with 30″ for a standard dining room table height) Karen used it as a work table for years.

Now, with our move to Hudson, the table got a return life as a dining room table. In combination with our new chairs, it looked great except for the grimy blackish patina of the table top.

What to do?

Karen thought of a refinishing with a sander. I poked around on the internet for advice about cleaning butcher block. On that advice I applied a little warm water with soap and scrubbed with an abrasive pot scrubber. Mirabile dictu, the original glow of the maple top re-emerged.