How do I remove water marks from wood furniture?
Janet from NY
I just tried using mayo, ashes, and a blow dryer to remove a white water stain from my hardwood floor. It worked well, thanks for the tip. (02/10/2008)
By Stewart
My mark was more of a cloudy white on a brand new cherry table I had forgotten to use a trivet on. I found the steam iron/hair dryer advise and decided to use the protected version with the doubled up t-shirt and steam iron. It took a couple tries, but it looks new again!
The Wrangler on YahooAnswers explains, "If the problem is only moisture blemishes (white rings, white fog, etc) then it is a simple matter of moisture trapped inside the finish itself. A quick, simple method of removing excess moisture from a wood finish, is your hair dryer. No sanding, no chemicals, no mess. Just apply some warm air to the surface to help the moisture evaporate. Do not let it blow continuously in one spot...the surface could get too hot. The idea is to help the moisture evaporate, not damage the finish."
It makes sense to me! It's more the heat that helps evaporate the trapped moisture, than the steam helping, but maybe that helps to equalize the environment. It worked and I'm happy!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! (02/27/2008)
By Candy
I was extremely skeptical about how the mayo would work, especially since I don't own a hair dryer, and was put off with rubbing ashes of any sort into my table. But I had to do something, so I decided to take my weak steam iron and hold it over a dab of mayo with a heap of baking soda mixed in, while buffing the water mark with a paper towel. I made sure not to keep the iron in one position, holding it about 2-2 1/2" from the mark. Well, it worked! I had to turn the light on to make sure my eyes weren't failing me, haha! Thanks so much for this advice. (03/03/2008)
By dulcinea
Amazing! This will have saved some of our deposit on our rented furnished house! Thank you everyone.
(03/25/2008)
By katie
Amazing! We left a ceramic pot on a very dark brown table and I used Old English oil instead of the mayo. I was surprised how much heat I needed from the hair dryer but rubbed plenty of oil on the water mark, then used the dryer about 1 inch from the surface. Using a circular motion, I heated it up as much as possible, always looking if the finish would bubble, but it didn't. Took me about 5 minutes of rubbing and heating before it completely went away!
Simply amazing, thanks for the post. (03/26/2008)
By Eric
I just accidentally put a water mark on a piece of furniture (mahogany, I think) that my father-in-law made about 45 years ago. If my husband had seen the ring, he would not have been happy. So, I found this site. What a life saver! I tried the hairdryer first to no avail. But then I mixed mayo and baking soda and could not believe my eyes!
By Beckie
I had to iron some clothes on a coffee table in the living room and I put down two thick towels before using my steam iron, it did manage to leave a few white rings in one corner. My boyfriend was so mad, his parents got him the table for Christmas. Thank God for mayonnaise, Old English, and my little pocket hair dryer. Fixed it up for him after a big fight to make up. (05/30/2008)
By Taisha
I set a mug down on a piece of paper on my girlfriends desk (which belonged to her deceased grandmother). Yes, a recipe for disaster. So, I hopped on this site and had at it.
Before I found the site, I had rubbed pledge on it...no good.
Then I tried wood markers, the kind you get at the hardware store to mask scratches, and no good.
I then found this site. The blow dryer and mayo did not work. I decided to try the toothpaste. I discovered a travel size tube of CREST sensitivity original formula. I rubbed really hard with a damp cloth then almost gave up, until I noticed the tiniest edge looked different. So I rubbed like crazy, I think it went dry and worked up friction, and gone..yes! This site saved my relationship.
Bless you all.
By a friend (06/04/2008)
My brother called me in a panic that his dinner guests had placed a hot pizza box on his dining room table! When he picked it up, there was a white foggy water mark on it. He tried a bunch of stuff, including blaming his wife, and then called me at work. I googled, found this site, and told him to try either mayo and baking soda or the Old English and hair dryer trick (he had been using an iron to try to dry it). He just called and said it worked, and the stain is totally gone! (06/20/2008)
By Jennifer
Thank you for your good advice. I had an old water stain on a set of wood shelves. I tried non-gel toothpaste and it worked very little. So I tried baking soda paste, again, little success with much effort. So I mixed some ash from the fireplace with some mayonnaise and used my hair dryer and it worked beautifully. Hooray! Thank you, thank you, thank you. (06/30/2008)
By Dot
I awoke to find two white heat or water marks on my very dark breakfast table. Before I resorted to kitchen concoctions I decided to try my hair dryer. Worked great! I held the dryer very close to the spot and moved it in a small circle for a couple of minutes. Every once in a while I wiped with a very soft cloth, although I'm not sure this was necessary. I followed up with some spray furniture cleaner and it looks like it never happened. Amazing! (07/07/2008)
By Superbee
When I saw the water stain on a precious antique vanity given to me by a loved one who has since past that was left by a house guest, my heart sunk. Maybe people shouldn't get attached to things, but everything that was left to me by this person is special and I felt as if I would cry. Once more, the house guest who left it couldn't have been a sweeter person and was so apologetic. I thought that it would never be fixed, I should just accept it and move on. But, I found these postings, decided to try some mayo and baking soda and WOW! The huge water stain was gone in less than a minute of circular motion on a rag. I wiped it off with a damp cloth and polished it. You would never know what happened. A big thank you to all of you! (07/10/2008)
By Gina from Saratoga Springs
The steam iron and white tea shirt really work. It took me literally less than 1 minute and the ugly white mark left by a pizza box was gone. All I can say is, oh my God, I'm so happy. Thank You.
Gail (07/14/2008)
By Gail
Thank you so much for the tip regarding mayo and baking soda. My oak table has been stained for over a year and I had tried many remedies in an attempt to remove it. My table is beautiful again. Penny 7/21/08 (07/21/2008)
By
Hooray. It worked on my five year old water mark on mahogany. (07/22/2008)
By A.Y. Grant
Thank you for the mayo tip. It worked like a charm! I used it on a rather nasty piece of furniture that I had no interest in refinishing, and was thrilled with the results. If I happen to leave a coke on someone's Steinway (not), I'll remember the trick! (08/04/2008)
By desperate piano tuner
How impressed was I with the mayo solution for getting water ring marks removed from my dining table. (08/17/2008)
By Marie
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