What is this brown stuff I'm wiping off this old wooden desk?

Yes it is the varnish coming off of the desk. How old exactly is the desk and are there any kind of spray that is hitting it, like sea-blast or something?

It’s probobly varnish or just years of dirt.

I don’t know how old varnish behaves, but I can’t help wondering if it used to belong to a heavy smoker.

@Jeruba Good point! It could be nicotine. If it is very old more than likely someone smoked around it.

GA’s here. Do you know if it was recently restored? I know that if the finish was hand rubbed, depending on the type of wood it might appear to “bleed” for a while as well. If it is an older finish, certain cleaners with citrus qualities in them might have weakened the finish as well, another cause of “bleeding”.

We have a table that has never been in a smoking home, and every time I clean it I get a brownish residue. I’ve always thought it was the finish. We’ve had this table for years, and I made the mistake of cleaning it with regular kitchen cleaner. That, on top of abuse and art projects from kids, has nearly worn away the finish on the top of the table.

You could probably solve the problem by refinishing the desk. If it’s an antique or valuable, you might want to look into the correct way to refinish it without reducing the value.