Second coat of finsih on kitchen table

[setterguy]

With our son (3) our kitchen table has started to take a beating. I would like to try and keep it from scratching the wood, and keep it looking nice. Is there anything that I can coat it with, and what steps need to be taken before hand? sanding ect.

[Juneau4]

If the wood is scratched or dented you're going to have to strip the wod and and sand them out. If the finish is scratched then sand with 220 grit sandpaper get a tack cloth at any hardware store and wipe all the dust off and refinish with a polyurethane finish. I would probably use a satin as it won't show any scratch marks as readily. Good luck! Merry Christmas to all.

[Bobby Bass]

A good cleaning is in order then go ahead and lightly sand with some 220 paper with the grain. Apply a coat of Polly and as long as you have gotten this far let it try and repeat the step. Lightly, very lightly sand again with 220 paper just enough to scuff the finish and again coat with poly. This will give you a smooth hard finish for junior. Like Juneau4 stated use a tack cloth to remove the dust from sanding. Sand and Brush in the same direction that the grain is running. A good china brissel brush will pay for itself when applying the poly.

[eurolarva]

If the urothane finish you currently have is a water based poly using an oil based poly may give you less then desirable results. Best to strip as mentioned before and re stain and then use Oil Based Poly. Water based poly is a real pain to use. It is much harder to get rid of brush stroke and uses many many coats to get the appearance of 2 coats of poly. If the table is made of soft wood you will be fighting scratches no matter what you do.

[setterguy]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!