Hey, does anyone out there know how to remove white water and heat
stains from oak furniture??
At one time I knew how to easily do this, but I seem to have
forgotten.
I would appreciate it if anyone can clue me in, short of refinishing
the entire thing.
Thanx, Dennis

Depends a bit on what the finish is.

If it's laquer or poly you can rub with rubbing alcohol and sometimes
it will evaoprate it out. Not good if it is shellac.

Alternatively, you can rub with mineral oil and try to displace the
water with oil on any finish.

On Apr 6, 10:56*am, (Dennis Obrien) wrote:
Hey, does anyone out there know how to remove white water and heat
stains from oak furniture??
* *At one time I knew how to easily do this, but I seem to have
forgotten.
* *I would appreciate it if anyone can clue me in, short of refinishing
the entire thing.
* *Thanx, Dennis

I know this sounds like an old wives tale but try mayonnaise. I
picked this up from somewhere (probably the internet) several years
ago but it worked to remove a white cup stain from a piece of
production-built office furniture (suspect the finish is lacquer).
Apply the mayo to the spot using your fingertips and continue to rub
in circles, keeping the stain wet. It took two attempts to get the
stain to pretty much disappear.

On the other hand, the effect was less favorable on a piece that I am
certain was finished with poly. Helped but didn't fix. The Mayo oil
probably had more of a problem penetrating.

RonB

wrote:
I know this sounds like an old wives tale but try mayonnaise. I
picked this up from somewhere (probably the internet) several years
ago but it worked to remove a white cup stain from a piece of
production-built office furniture (suspect the finish is lacquer).
Apply the mayo to the spot using your fingertips and continue to rub
in circles, keeping the stain wet. It took two attempts to get the
stain to pretty much disappear.

On the other hand, the effect was less favorable on a piece that I am
certain was finished with poly. Helped but didn't fix. The Mayo oil
probably had more of a problem penetrating.

RonB


With any household wonder-fix, be it true or an old wives' tale, it
helps to look at the ingredients and determine what is actually doing
the work in the fix.

For years, people have suggested peanut butter for all kinds of stuff,
commonly for getting gum out of hair and removing stickers from dishes
or cookware. I think most of us could make an educated guess that it's
the peanut-oil doing the work. One could save the peanut butter for
sandwiches by using cooking oil or mineral oil instead.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

"Dennis Obrien" wrote in message
...
Hey, does anyone out there know how to remove white water and heat
stains from oak furniture??
At one time I knew how to easily do this, but I seem to have
forgotten.
I would appreciate it if anyone can clue me in, short of refinishing
the entire thing.
Thanx, Dennis

My favorite is to take one good cigar, smoke it and save the ashes. Take
the ash and rub the ring/spot with it. Even if it doesn't get the ring.spot
out it is worth trying. I have use pipe ash to do this and it worked, cig
ash didn't.

Probably the oil in the mayo. I read up on this somewhere
authoratative, can't recall the source, but it was evap or replace ie
alcohol or oil. Goes to the peanut butter concept too.

On Apr 6, 12:45*pm, wrote:
I know this sounds like an old wives tale but try mayonnaise. *I
picked this up from somewhere (probably the internet) several years
ago but it worked to remove a white cup stain from a piece of
production-built office furniture (suspect the finish is lacquer).
Apply the mayo to the spot using your fingertips and continue to rub
in circles, keeping the stain wet. *It took two attempts to get the
stain to pretty much disappear.

On the other hand, the effect was less favorable on a piece that I am
certain was finished with poly. *Helped but didn't fix. *The Mayo oil
probably had more of a problem penetrating.

RonB

"Dennis Obrien" wrote in message
...
Hey, does anyone out there know how to remove white water and heat
stains from oak furniture??
At one time I knew how to easily do this, but I seem to have
forgotten.
I would appreciate it if anyone can clue me in, short of refinishing
the entire thing.
Thanx, Dennis


Hello,

For white water rings you can:

- apply an oily substance like mayonnaise, peanut butter, or furniture
polish. This hides the stain rather than remove it but it doesn't hurt the
finish.

- carefully wipe the stain with an alcohol dampened cloth. It is wiped
quickly and carefully just enough to leave a vapor trail on the finish. It
is best to do this in a low humidity environment so you don't cause a bigger
problem. It works immediately but if you over do it, you will be removing
the finish. This does not work on varnish or polyurethane.

- mist on some blush eliminator if you have a lacquer finish.

- abrade the surface with things like cigar ash, pumice, rottenstone, or
MicroMesh. I am not very big on this technique since it removes the finish.

Except for the first method, you will need to adjust the sheen after you
use them.

Heat damage may look the same as a water ring but can be much deeper in
the finish. Sometimes leaving it alone for some time works but you could
try any of the above methods.

Good Luck.

sweet sawdust wrote:


"Dennis Obrien" wrote in message
...
Hey, does anyone out there know how to remove white water and heat
stains from oak furniture??
At one time I knew how to easily do this, but I seem to have
forgotten.
I would appreciate it if anyone can clue me in, short of refinishing
the entire thing.
Thanx, Dennis

My favorite is to take one good cigar, smoke it and save the ashes. Take
the ash and rub the ring/spot with it. Even if it doesn't get the
ring.spot
out it is worth trying. I have use pipe ash to do this and it worked, cig
ash didn't.
Well any excuse to smoke a good cigar works for me, who cares if it can
remove white stains or not.

basilisk

basilisk wrote:

sweet sawdust wrote:


"Dennis Obrien" wrote in message
...
Hey, does anyone out there know how to remove white water and heat
stains from oak furniture??
At one time I knew how to easily do this, but I seem to have
forgotten.
I would appreciate it if anyone can clue me in, short of refinishing
the entire thing.
Thanx, Dennis

My favorite is to take one good cigar, smoke it and save the ashes. Take
the ash and rub the ring/spot with it. Even if it doesn't get the
ring.spot
out it is worth trying. I have use pipe ash to do this and it worked,
cig ash didn't.
Well any excuse to smoke a good cigar works for me, who cares if it can
remove white stains or not.

basilisk
Is there a chance that Irish Whiskey will remove white stains?

basilisk