About 20 yrs ago my new bride and I bought some solid cherry dining
room/living room furniture. As I recall we knew a decorator who told
us to go pick out what we liked at a furniture store and get her the
model numbers. Well we did (called Knob Creek from No. Carolina) and
she got us the stuff for about 1/2 off retail - we were of course
delighted.

Still looks very good, not super nice heirloom stuff but my kids won't
throw it out when we're gone and we're quite happy with it (that old
cherry sure has some awfully pretty grain). Anyway, over the years
it's been cleaned/polished every now and then with some commercial
stuff (like Weiman's furniture cream) and has had it's share of
dusting/polishing with Pledge. The tops now have some slight, dusting
scratches (when you look at an angle) and I don't think it looks as
good as it could.

Now that I've gotten into woodworking some I know there's better ways
to take care of furniture, and that's certainly not Pledge. I'm not
sure what the finish is, my quess is some kind if lacquer or shellac -
the tops are almost mirror shiny when polished. I remember some some
fine, blackish residue in some crevices - probably a rubbing compound.
Do recall a water stain once that left a whitish haze that was polished
out with a commercial cleaner, otherwise never had an adult beverage
spill on it or other damage.

Anyone know how I can determine the top finish and then what's a good
way to clean, polish and preserve?

Love this forum - always a great place for info, ideas and inspiration
in my modest attempts at making sawdust.

Thanks all,
sl

p.s. borg plywood just keeps getting worse and worse