About 30 years ago, my father-in-law had a table professionally refinished. It's a large solid oak dining room table, with a 54" round top and massive center legs.
The job was beautifully done. To protect the newly refinished top, my mother-in-law immediately covered it with a tablecloth. But the tablecloth she chose had a light foam rubber backing, black color. It reacted with the new finish somehow, because when the tablecloth was removed, the foam remained.
Everyone was just sick about it, because this table has been around for a very long time, and is considered a family heirloom. From then on, the table was always kept covered.
Fast forward to today. My wife and I have become the owners of the table. I would like to remove the old foam. Any advice on how to do it? I'm hoping to find a method that's gentle but effective. Even though the foam has been stuck on for a long time, it's still possible to remove a small area of it with a fingernail. I'm thinking about warming it slightly with a heat gun and gently scraping. Maybe there are better alternatives, though.
Unfortunately, I don't know what type of finish was used. I'm assuming it was varnish of some kind, but I can't be sure. It does not look like an oil finish (I've used Waterlox on some past projects, and this finish doesn't seem comparable). And also, I can't try it on an inconspicuous place first, because only the very top of the table was affected. The rest of it is still beautiful.
It would be worth stripping and refinishing completely if there's no other way, but I'd like to avoid that if possible. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.