Cleaning & Polishing
Wood is wood and plastic. Wood is pourous and plastic is not. Oil penetrates wood but does not penetrate plastic. If it did, the container would spring a leak. After a quarter century, wood can be brought back to its original look. On laminates, the pattern you see is printed on paper, afixed to the substrate, and finished with a thin layer of clear plastic. First the top layer becomes dull because of the millions of scratches accumulated over many years. Once the plastic surface is worn through, the paper goes; and so does the pattern. After that you're into the substrate. If that's the condition of your laminate, you might consider a good sanding with #100 grit, to roughen the surface a bit, followed by a rolled on coat or two of latex paint. Carefully done, it will look great. If the present appearance is not too bad, one or another of the wax type polishes will make it look as good as it ever will. The last option, of course is to add a layer of new laminate over the old one. If you're unfamiliar with the procedure, any of the "helpers" at Home Depot, Lowe's, or the like, will explain the procedure.
