We have a varnished pine kitchen table, and it got stained by a rotten potato that leaked from the bottom of a bag. Someone (naming no names...) then decided to scrub the stain away with a kitchen cloth. It's gone, but so is a patch of varnish about the size of my hand.

The wood underneath is slightly roughened, but I should be able to smooth it out with fine sandpaper and not leave any obvious holes or scratches. What I don't know of is a way to match the colour of the existing varnish. Do I have to plan for sanding down the whole tabletop and re-varnishing from scratch, and if so how many coats would it need?

This is in a rented house, the table belongs to the landlord, and we're moving out in two weeks. Just for added fun...

Dave, August 2012

I'm afraid you'll have to sand the whole thing.
Normally I'd suggest 3 or 4 coats to do the job properly, but since it's a rental, you may be able to get away with one or 2 coats of clear gloss varnish.

Big Softy, November 2012