Can anyone identify what wood finish this is?
I left a disinfectant wipe on it and it dissolved this small hole in the finish, so I think it's alcohol soluble. It's clear and colourless as far as I can see, and doesn't absorb into the wood but makes a very thin layer on top. I figure noe I'd be just sanding the area a little to even out damage then apply some more of the same finish.
Beeswax and ... coconut oil? You can melt various things together with a food grade oil, that will protect wood. I usually use a heat gun on low to drive in the finish.
Probably shellac. It's alcohol soluble and I've seen it used on similar (hard maple?) wood floors.
This would be my usual first guess but that damage doesn't really look like what happens to shellac under those conditions, it looks more than anything like cheap water based polyurethane that wasn't very well bonded to begin with. That stuff doesn't really ever get 100% hard and while that's good in certain applications it's not really suitable for a table.
The telltale sign to me is the debris that is balled up like rubbery snot, which is exactly what can happen when that stuff gets softened up by trapped moisture and chemicals.
Shellac also usually gets a semi-opaque whitish tinge to the affected areas when any moisture hits it like picrel
Yeah I've had it on old drawers and shit, really sucks as you can't disinfect it with alcohol.
Same goes for acrylic. It used to be some old devices used acrylic as an LCD cover/"glass" and the moment you cleaned it up with some good old rubbing alcohol it get permanently fricked up.
Doesn't look shellac and shellac wouldn't come off like that.
woodgays- rubio monocoat any good?
Looks like a cheap varnish to me. Flaking off = no wood penetration. Looks like the cheap shit they used to finish school furniture with, it would just come off after 10 years.