After sanding with 80, 120, and 220 grit, and superfine steel wool (mistake) and then 220 again to sand the little metal particles out of the wood... washed with water to get the dust off
0000 steel wool is great, you just wipe it with a tack cloth after you are done.
Also I though that I would mention that when you use the (dreaded) dishwasher method, convention wisdom is to remove it before the drying cycle. This is to prevent the wood from cracking.