General Question

jca's avatar

Is there a way to remove discoloration in the wood finish of a desk top, that occurred from Crazy Glue or super glue?

Asked by jca (36062points) February 13th, 2012

I did some Crazy gluing on my wood desk at work. It leaked on to the desk top. I wiped it off but there is still some discoloration that occurred to the desk top. The desk, like many wood products that are mass produced, is one that looks good but is mostly pressboard with what is probably a veneer top.

When I run my hand on the desk top, it’s smooth, but yet I see discoloration in the wood finish. How can I get rid of the discoloration?

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5 Answers

King_Pariah's avatar

If the glue has been removed as it seems to be, that discoloration is going to stay unless you can find a stain/finish that matches or is close to the tone of the rest of the wood. Personally, I’d take this as an opportunity to refinish it to a hue more to my tastes.

thorninmud's avatar

So, this is definitely a real wood surface (veneer) as opposed to one of those thin plastic films that looks like wood?

If it is actually wood, then chances are it has a nitro lacquer finish (almost all commercial wood furniture uses this). That would be good news, kind of, because nitro lacquer is “self-healing”; if you carefully sand the super glue residue off, without sanding down to the wood substrate, then spray a new coat of lacquer on the spot, the new coat will dissolve and blend in with the old lacquer. The patch should be pretty seamless. Spray lacquer in a can is not real common, but it is findable (example). Nasty fumes, by the way.

If it’s not actually wood, but the faux-wood “foil”, then the glue has probably attacked the actual plastic the foil is made of. Those foils are so very thin that there’s probably not much you can do.

john65pennington's avatar

Looks like you are going to have to sand the top of the desk down and refinish it all over again with a color of your choice.

Male's avatar

I heard nail polish remover takes off superglue due to the acetone, but I’m not sure if it works when the glue has dried.

wilma's avatar

Nail polish remover will also remove the finish on the wood desk.

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