LocoReader

Dear Home Ec 101,
I have a dresser that my mother gave me. She had a doily thing on it with a plastic backing.  When I removed the doily, there where sticky spots in a lacy pattern from the doily.  What can I use to remove this without damaging the stain on the dresser?
Thanks,
Doily Dummy in Woodstock GA
Ivy says:
Ugh, I know the plastic doillies that you speak of, and I hate them with the fire of a thousand, errr…fires. When we were going through my late grandmother’s stuff, we opened a box that had nothing but plastic doillies in it. Why would she have so many? No earthly idea, kids, but they were there.
Anyway, I digress. There are many ways you can fix this. The premise is to use something with an oily base to soften that funk and get it off. Murphy’s Oil Soap is formulated for finished wood and might be your best bet. However, if your dresser is particularly old, the finish may be worn, so test a spot before going whole hog.
If you don’t want to run out and buy Murphy’s Oil Soap, try a light coating of vegetable oil or even peanut butter. I use my handy dandy plastic scraper that you get with Pampered Chef stoneware to do any kind of scraping that needs to be gentle. Of course, a butter knife wrapped in a towel would do the trick too. You want a gentle edge that will take off the funk and not the dresser’s finish.
So, just lightly coat with what you’re using and then let it sit for 10-15 minutes to soak in and then gently scrape away. Good luck!
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