cleaning old formica

[luis]

Before I start doing something foolish I like to ask if there are a way : chemical or magical, to restore the old formica to a more nice color? My formica are very dark brown and my first idea is to paint with toplac but ... if theres a way to remove the dark then, I prefeer to keep the nice wood looking. I already try (on a small piece) to sand and the result is not what I want.
Thanks and best regards

[John F.]

I cleaned mine with regular cleaner stuff--like Spraynine, and then on the advice of this board used Penetrol. It looked alot better. Don't leave the Penetrol on to long--it'll turn into a sticky mess and you'll have ot redo it.

When I redid my interior, I filled, sanded, and primed, and painted with Ivory Toplac. I really like the look.

[Rawleigh]

As said, Penetrol!

[In Memory Walter K]

Liquid Gold-Can be purchased in a spray can at your supermarket in the furniture polish section. Spray it on, wipe it off. Immediate results. Walter

[Raybo Marine NY]

if you have even the faintest plan to paint your formica later on you may want to reconsider using anything that will be a pain to remove later on, products that give a quick easy gloss also will be a enemy to your paint.