In 1969, Douglas G. Howard set out to solve this dilemma: how can you eliminate blemishes in wood finishes and restore the original color and luster without removing any of the existing finish? Unable to find an answer at his local hardware store, he went to work in his garage to create his own product. His goal was to make something that would be much more than a surface treatment, yet nothing like a stripper or a refinisher. The key was to develop a formula that could clean and polish the surface, penetrate the finish with stain, and leave the original finish intact. The end result was Restor-A-Finish, Doug Howard's first in what would become a complete line of wood care products. For over 40 years, Howard's Restor-A-Finish has been a standard in the antique industry. Because Restor-A-Finish preserves the original wood finish it also helps preserve its authenticity and value, whereas stripping the finish may literally strip the piece of its value. Almost any existing wood tone, from a Birdseye Maple to a Jacobean, can be closely matched using one of the nine available finish colors. Trying it on just about everything with a traditional wood finish, antique dealers, refinishers, and homemakers have found it to be a safer and easier alternative to stripping and refinishing. Scratches, oxidation, white heat rings, watermarks, smoke damage, and sun fade simply disappear.