On Apr 9, 2:25 pm, Bill in Detroit wrote:
riverman wrote:
I'm a novice and newbie, so go easy on me, please :-)

Some houseguests have left serious white rings on our wood dining
table, and they cannot be buffed out with various methods (toothpaste,
furniture polish, light sanding, etc), so I think I'm faced with doing
a repair job.

Well, you are now.

But next time this happens (and it will), grab a bit of mayonnaise and
rub it in with a clean cloth for a minute than wipe off. You should be done.

Bill


:-) Yes, I'm sure it will.

I did a bit of online research, and tried several methods including
the mayo. I wasn't haphazard about it; there were a couple of large
rings, so I tried several methods on small regions. On one ring, I
isolated a section (about 1/4th of the ring) and tried rubbing
toothpaste on it (this worked on a ring I had last year on an antique
chest). I left a small piece alone as an indicator, and put mayo on
the next section. I left the next piece alone, and put mayo with salt
on the last section. I let the mayo and mayo/salt sit for about 15
minutes to soak in.

On the second ring, I split it into thirds. I covered 2/3 of that ring
and applied a hair dryer to the exposed part (which had no visible
effect), and rubbed alcohol on 1/3 (which had the best effect), and
put olive oil on the last third, again for about 15 minutes.

Once I realized that alcohol had the best result, I cleaned up the
rest of the stains and carefully rubbed out the rings with an old T-
shirt and small dabs of alcohol. I was pretty careful not to spread my
workspace, and not to let the alcohol puddle at all.

What's left now isn't really that unsightful; if I look at the glare
of reflected light, I can see where I was working, but otherswise you
cannot see tell. In the morning light today I could still see a tiny
trace of both rings, so I might consider going at it a little bit
more...or not. I suppose 'well enough alone' is a reasonable lesson
to learn.

MB