There's no reason to do that, services change and the internet can make it very hard to find the most up to date info. That doesn't really make it YTTV's fault.

There’s no way to do it and “save” the varnish. The varnish is already ruined, just sand/grind the whole thing down and refinish it. I would also want to save steps in your shoes, but unfortunately it’s too late. Best of luck!