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Wood Desk Damage From Isopropyl Alcohol

Hello everyone. I have recently noticed that one of my isopropyl alcohol bottles had a leak and severely damaged the surface of my desk. The bottoms of my mats are seemingly fused to the top, and there are stains/warps everywhere. The desk wasn’t cheap so I’m not super happy about it. I’m sure I’ll never get it back to how it was, but does anyone have tips on how to remove some of the stains and residue from the screw mats?

Looking forward to your ideas.

Thanks!

-Austin

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Looks like you’ll need to refinish the top of that desk, at least that would be my approach. I’d get a razer blade and scrape the black stuff off. Then go over it with various sandpaper grits starting at like 50 grit and working up to 300 grit. If you want a really nice glass-like finish you could work your way up to 600. At least that’s what I’ve done when I’ve made charcuterie boards. Look up guides on how to finish like a wooden tabletop and get some ideas. I’m not sure what the whole desk looks like given the image you provided. Probably wouldn’t hurt to put down a layer of plastic under your matts just to prevent an issue like this again.

**EDIT** Just make sure that’s actual wood and not that fake wood grain they stick on stuff to make it look like wood.

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After messing with some old furniture I suspect this is MDF with contact paper. OP probably has to sand it down to the wood and put new contact paper on the desk.

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I'd use an electric sander and progressively sand it up to a high enough grit it's soft and the damage is as corrected as possible; I'd stop at 600 grit or so. The problem with particle board and MDF is it can be nearly impossible to fully repair liquid damage like this and thin wood leaves little room to repair it in many cases. Once you sand it back down (if it has a natural wood texture and it isn't contact paper), apply a similar stain if the wood is stained (you can even change it if you want) and then seal it in with furniture wax; just make sure you fully cover it so it's properly sealed and remember you need to redo this once in a while (but this also applies to ALL wood furniture once in a while so...). If the furniture uses contact paper (which is common for particle board/MDF furniture), sand it down, pick a contact paper you like, and refinish the top and sides of the desk.

On the other hand contact paper may be more tedious to apply well, but it will provide superior protection which will not be compromised by missed spots when waxing, but if it does wear down cleanup can be a process due to the adhesive in use.

The reason I mention the possibility of needing contact paper is a lot of particleboard and MDF furniture uses contact paper rather than natural finishing due to cost reasons, so you will most likely need contact paper to restore the finish on this type. Since it's a sticker you can either come as close as possible or pick a new color to cover the repairs.

You can see WHY I would probably recommend contact paper for MDF/particleboard here*, since all of that damage to the finish came with time and the only fix will be to sand it down, and then apply a roll of contact paper to it:
*The writing on the bottom is because I am reusing old furniture particleboard to make custom furniture; I'm refinishing it due to several years of paper damage, so I didn't feel bad about writing on it. The finish has to be covered anyway as the new wood patch will never match and I probably will not find a matched contact paper so I'm getting rid of all of it and putting a finish I want to put on it in the end.

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Its difficult to tell from the picture but it looks like the desk may be MDF with a picture finish. (Meaning it is wood fibers mixed with glue and pressed to make a board. It is then covered with a plastic-like picture of wood grain.) If that is true there isn't much you can do to repair it. MDF swells when it gets wet and it is almost impossible to get a flat, smooth surface again.

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Austin Martin zal eeuwig dankbaar zijn.
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