anons, i have an older table that i salvaged that would fit my other furniture. however, it's been sitting in storage unprotected and got damaged by water(i think). the table top is built from some sort of particle board and is covered in a "thick" layer of glossy lacquer, kind of like shellac or similar. i don't know the specifics, the piece is around 50 years old
at the edge that was sitting on the ground the board has swelled a bit and looka at it i can see some voids that have developed. from the top the piece is discolored a few centimeters in, it looks like the lacquer has separated from the wood and has given it this sort of "bleached" look.
i don't really care about the swelling, as in i don't mind that it's thicker on one side. what i'd like to do is somehow clean it, then seal it and make the lacquer look better. i assume that i can't "reglue" it or anything, should i ship it away and apply some sort of new coat? if i do that, should i ship away the whole thing across the whole top?