Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Best approach ?

I recently bought a tv stand made of oak plywood, stained a med. [honey] color. I planned on staining over the present color with a darker stain as our l.r. furniture is a dark cherry or mahogany hue. It has black scuff marks on the top, like heel marks on a floor. I take it the marks are from tv feet being scooted around on the stand. I don't want to remove all the finish just the marks. I tried mineral spirits on the marks to no avail. Any suggestions, short of redoing the whole thing ? Thanks, Patch

Did you use a fair amount of elbow grease along with the mineral spirits? Something hotter like liquid deglosser may work but it will also soften up the existing finish. A light sanding may remove the scuff marks.

Stains don't work well over sealed wood. the correct way to restain would be to strip off all of the existing finish and stain. Tinted polys work well for altering the color of already finished pieces of wood but they can be tricky to apply. Drips, runs and lap marks all result in extra color and are almost always unsightly.

I tried pretty hard with the mineral spirits. A clean white cloth barely showed signs of color. Do you think maybe Murphy's Oil Soap? If that removes the marks, then mineral spirits to take off the Murphy's? The finish must be oil-based or something. If not it has the most amazingly even wear I've ever seen. A total refinish like you suggest would probably be best. Guess I am getting lazy. :o The only place I have to work on it is the garage, and this time of the year you risk heat stroke. :eek: Thanks for your time, Patch.