bushwacker
Oven cleaner is in large part lye, sodium hydroxide, a seriously caustic chemical that bleaches and softens wood like crazy. Among other things, a vinegar rinse is needed to neutralize the lye and copious amounts of water to flush it away. It will have a bad effect on any finish and the wood if not limited in application.
It will not "reactivate," it will simply continue to react with hydrogen atoms until spent, breaking down the glue that holds wood together, lignin, in the process of stealing those hydrogen atoms. (very simplified description... semanticists need not apply <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />)
What I do not understand is why you want to pull the old oil finish out just to replace it with more of the same?
Tru-oil is a very fast-drying, oil finish that gets thick fast and dries readily under almost all circumstances. The problems that will show themselves most readily are blushes from water in the wood not being able to leave properly and linking with the oil for a while. Most blush will simply go away within months, particularly in a warm dry place.
To eliminate any potential problems you could use a couple of wash coats of thin shellac and then use oil over that. It will not be visible and will cure most bonding problems as everything sticks to shellac... and it returns the favor...
art
