Letter 10275

Removing oil and water stains from wood furniture

+ I have an old dresser that I have stripped the varnish off of and found motor oil had been spilled on it. How do I get the oil stain out as it has penetrated deeply into the wood. Also on the bottom side of the dresser is water stains, how do I remove these? Thank You, Jim H [last name purged for privacy due to age of posting] - Diamondville, WY + Hi, Did you get an answer for this? I have a dining table that has had some olive oil get into the wood. I am revarnishing it and want to remove the stain. Colin S [last name purged for privacy due to age of posting] - Australia Ed. note: This thread quickly evolves to become the "remove water stains with an iron or hair dryer" thread. So if you have oil stains, you may find letters 31774 and 16383, a more direct route to answers.

Oops! Our kid left a cold drink on our dining room table overnight and now there's a nice, new water ring. What's the best of the ten million ways to fix it? Need a little help.

Gary M [last name purged for privacy due to age of posting]
Treasure Hunter - Marietta, Georgia, USA

One way to remove white water stains from wood is to use a hot iron on a smoothly-textured, lint-free cloth placed over the stain, iron very briefly (seconds), lift the cloth, and repeat until stain is gone. It really works!

Heather G [last name purged for privacy due to age of posting]
- San Antonio, TX

I was considering refinishing a desk I had bought from Bombay Co. when I put a hot TV diner down on the surface. Ironing out the water rings and heat stains works!! I tried all of the other tips, such as Armorall, salt and olive oil, peanut butter and mayonnaise. I tried for a week and finally got it out with just my iron on medium heat and a dry cloth.

Jenay R [last name purged for privacy due to age of posting]
- West Monroe, Louisiana

The ironing worked... used an old t'shirt... low setting on my iron and voila... the fresh water mark created this morning is now gone... an old water stain didn't come completely off... but is greatly diminished

thanks so much

Gil C [last name purged for privacy due to age of posting]
- Washington DC, USA

Wow. Unbelievable. After FIVE YEARS of living with two cloudy white heat stains on my good dining table, and covering them up with a tablecloth....I finally found this website and used the heat/iron method. It works brilliantly, and the table is as new. Thank you to who ever posted this tip.

Lesley Coull
- Aberdeen, Scotland

Bought brand new sideboard, had baby, got lovely flowers, sat flowers on new sideboard, now got nasty dark brown ring mark. Please help.

VICTORIA MORRISON
JERSEY - UK

I am in the process of completely redoing an old dresser that I think is cherry or mahogany. I took all the old finish off with a sander and had lined the drawers up on a table in my garage. One of the kids put the cat's water dish on one of the drawers and of course it was spilled. Now there is a dark stain on it. Is there any way of getting it out? Please be very specific. I read something about using Oxalic Acid [link is to product info at Amazon] but am not sure how to go about it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Laura Velasquez
consumer - Reading, KS, USA

I just tried the method that uses a cotton piece of fabric (no lint!) and an iron to get out cloudy white water stains.
It worked beautifully on a 12 by 15 inch solid water stain.
Simply amazing! You simply iron the piece of cotton on top of the stain. I started with a warm iron and then used a higher setting as I felt comfortable.

Janis Ireland
- Appleton, Wisconsin, USA

A pineapple in a basket leaked juice onto a pine table and left a dark grey ring. How can I get this out?

Mary Logan
consumer - Queensland, Australia

We used the t-shirt and medium heat iron on our fresh water ring (left from a hot cup of tea). The ring is gone! But, I do caution about the heat of the iron. The temperature got a bit too hot and it ended up permanently leaving some lint from the t-shirt behind. The lint looks much better than the ring, so we're happy. Make sure you're patient and take your time with a cooler iron.

Julie Dandliker
- Oakland, CA, USA

I too got material stuck to where I was trying to remove an old water stain. Now I have two awful areas on my wood surface. Any suggestions for getting rid of the new disaster?

Judy MacAulay
- Mission, BC, Canada

I had two circular white water stains on a beautiful teak dining table. For 5 years I've been covering them with place mats. Ten minutes with a white napkin and an iron at medium heat, and the table looks brand new again. Thanks so much!

Susan Wieland
- Providence, RI, USA

I am absolutely amazed at the brilliant person who suggested using heat on water marks. I bought mahogony furtniture (expensive) I loved and was being so careful. I put a cloth on the table to protect it. The heat from a hot tea went throught he cloth and left a mark mark the size of loonie. I have asked and asked and noone could help until I finally found this site. I used a blowdryer and wiped as I heated. It took about 10 min. but it worked, amazing the spot is totally gone. I am thrilled. Thank you so much.....I can't wait to tell everyone who had no answers for me except to refinsih the whole table. Thank you again.....

Diane Cantin
Administration - Windsor, Ontario, Canada

HELP ! Ruined roommate's bar ! I had a poinsettia on my roommate's brand new, beautiful, black wood bar for the holidays and the water leaked through its can. Now there is a terrible water ring and I'm afraid the wood is saturated. ANY IDEAS ?! HELP !?

Susie Oszustowicz
fashion - Dallas, Texas, USA

I tried the iron and cloth on a white heat stain on my teak dining room table - it worked! That stain had been there for 2 years! Then I used the toothpaste solution on a more recent dye stain from a colored piece of paper (paper stained the wood) and it took it out. Thanks!

Russell Cooper
- Norwalk, CT, USA

I am one happy girl right now! who ever said about using an iron on a water mark left on wood~is a superstar! I tried a few things already that I found on the internet AND they didnt work!!! I was about to give up ~~ thanks so much!!!

Heather K
- Lancaster, PA

I used the hot iron on the white water stain and Thanks guys, it worked a treat. keep up the good ideas

Ian Spencer
- Port Kennedy, Perth, Australia

How can I get white water stains lined with a brown ring from antique pine table tops?

Carole Fultz
retired housewife - Escondido, CA, USA

hooray,UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!

My friend found this website and emailed it to me after I ruined my friend's table with a hot coffee cup. We thought we were gonna have to have the whole thing sanded and refinished but in 2 minutes the table was like new again!!!!

It's really hard to believe! Where would we be without google!

Just a few additional remarks:

I think it's a good idea to make sure the steam is off.

Also, I think the cloth doesn't necessarily have to be white, especially if the furniture is not white. (for example, I used a brown t-shirt on my brown table, that way if you leave it on for too long, you'd get the same color lint at least :))

Also, make sure the surface is clean so that you don't iron the dirt in.

Good luck!

Deniz
- Brooklyn, NY

It totally works, hot water stain heat stained table used hot iron method and it took about 10 minutes.

Dustin Pause
- SF, CA, USA

Awesome tip with the iron! My wife and I just got a beautiful antique table from her boss and I thought I had ruined it when I forgot and sat a box of hot chicken wings on it, leaving nasty white heat marks. A white lint free cloth, a hot iron and 5 minutes of ironing fixed it! AWESOME TIP!

Thanks!

Josh Richardson
- Centreville, VA, USA

Thank you so much for the advice on removing white heat marks from wood. We used my Mom's dining room table for Easter Dinner and when I removed the tablecloth discovered a hot dish had made white marks. I used the linen table napkin with an iron and the marks are gone!!! I'm sure my Mom is looking down from heaven and is pleased too!!!

Judy DeCaire
- Clio, Michigan, USA

My nephew and a friend put a hot pizza on our antique cherry wood table and left 9 or 10 circular 2" marks on it. I thought it was ruined permanently but I tried the soft flannel cloth and a medium iron (steam off!) and after 10 minutes only one nickel sized stain remains and that is where the wooden nail is on that end of the table and I'm guessing it sunk in deeper there because of the opening.

In any case, it's much better and I wanted to let folks know and say thank you for the wonderful tips!

Vandra Morgan
- Searcy, Arkansas, USA

Fantastic tip about the iron and white cloth! It really works, I have just literally removed the damage that I did to my teak dining table 2 days ago when trying to steam iron linen curtains that were far too big for my ironing board. Who would have thought that I could fix the damage with the culprit!! Thanks very much for the tip.

Shirley Phillips
- Lydney, Glos, UK

My girlfriend and I ironed on her roomates table and left cloudy white areas on the finish. Can anyone tell me how to fix it. Im guessing well have to sand and re-poly, but I'm hoping someone can explain how to do it best or give me another option. Please help!

Ben McPherson
Consumer - China, Maine, USA

I had company & placed hot plates on my brand new mahogany dining table, for the coffee & tea pots............when I was cleaning up, they left rings through the protection...........remembering my grandmother using polish to repair a similar problem, I tried it.............have been applying many applications of polish and buffing.......most of the problem is gone, but I still have an obvious shadow........am I headed in the right direction and just have to keep at it or should I start crying??

Michelle Sherwood
consumer - Spring Hill, FL, USA

It worked!! I was skeptical, since heat made the mark in the first place. I used a hair dryer first. Didn't work for me. Then I used the iron. No more white marks :-) Make sure you use the iron on medium heat with NO STEAM! I used a t-shirt cloth. Worked great. My husband swore it wouldn't work, but it did. I used lemon oil to polish and the table looks like new. Thanks for the advise.

Steph Pribula
- York, PA

How can we remove water stains on bare wood? I put some planters on a radiator cover, made of light bare wood, and the planters leaked. Does the iron method work on bare wood?

Mary Jean Babic
consumer - Brooklyn, NY, USA

Wow! I had a white cloudy water stain from a flower pot on my solid birch table, I thought my table was ruined. The stain had been there for several months. Today I tried the medium heat iron and a t-shirt and the stain is gone. I then rubbed it with lemon oil and unless you knew there had been a spot there you really can't see it. Thank you so much! My husband & I are very impressed.

Debra Martens
- Smyrna, TN, USA

I had great results today with the iron method on my 60 year old cherry dining table which recently had received three water marks. Two disappeared and the 3rd is much fainter. I followed the iron (no steam and only about 6 seconds)up with another home remedy of equal parts apple cider vinegar and olive oil and rubbed in the grain and buffed out with a dry soft cloth. It looks gorgeous and 90% better.

Rose Anderson
- Helena, MT

Removing OIL stains from wood. I have read many posts about how to remove water stains from wood but I have yet to see any advice on how to remove oil/grease stains. I accidently dumped a tray of BBQ ribs on my outdoor unfinished deck and the oil immediately penetrated the wood. I have tried numerous commercial cleaners, pressure washers and sanders with little difference. Pressure treated wood is not cheap so any help you can provide would be appreciated.

John Toth
- Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Going to kill husband! hi we just bought a fairly polished dining table and had to transport it 3hrs. apparantly my husband did not know the blanket he used was damp and therefore we got it home and it has several water stains all over it. will the iron method work for this please help me!!!!

ELICIA RADIN
CONSUMER - STANTHORPE QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA

Alot of wood stains will come out with a product called Magic Eraser [link is to product info at Amazon]. It has taken out white heat stains on a coffee table of mine, and dark spots on a end table.
Also those white rings will come out the old way with any kind of ashes, mayo, and alot of rubbing.

Jennifer Beety
- Washington DC, USA

Had a vase of white lilies on my new highly polished mahogany dining table and the pollen has fallen onto my table. I immediately wiped with water and cloth but this has caused an unsightly stain. I beg for your help to my dilemma.

Jacqueline Mcdonald
- England

I have a finished wood table and left hot bread rolls on the exposed surface too long and as a result, 2 white heat stains appeared. I tried toothpaste, mayo + ashes, oil and none of those suggestins worked.

I finally tried the iron method as suggested - a dry cloth and the iron set to medium level. Do not use steam.

I used for 10 minutes, wiping after each iron and it worked!

Thank you to this site for saving my favorite table!

M Viola
- Toronto, ON

Unbelievable!!! Thank goodness I stumbled across this website while looking for tips on how to remove white water mark stains from wood. I have a beautiful 1943 Lane cedar chest that belonged to my parents...unfortunately about 10 years I sat a pail of water down on it, sprang to answer the phone, got distracted thereafter for several hours ....forgetting totally about the pail quietly obliterating my family piece. I could have cried. For the past 10 years I have had to cover it with a quilt. Needless to say I was quite dubious about the ironing tip so I tried a few of the others here first-- the stain barely budged, if at all. As a last resort I went and got the iron and a t-shirt. I started out on a very low setting with a dry iron...slowly advancing the heat setting and monitoring what was happening about every 5-10 seconds in hopes to catch it quickly if it was making things worse. After raising the heat level slightly higher than medium...VOILA----that 10 year old HUGE pail water mark is gone...and I mean GONE!!!!! I am just thrilled to bits...THANK YOU..THANK YOU...THANK YOU...to all who have shared their success with this tip....so I came back to add one of my own since my stain was HUGE and 10 years...but it is only a memory now:)

Sarah Jesse Owens
- Sacramento, CA

A word of warning.

My wife left a ice cream bowl on a coaster on the coffee table overnight. The humidity caused it to go right through the coaster. I dried the area with a paper towl when I discovered it this morning...oops mistake. I scratched the finish. Then I did the iron and used an old white t-shirt. The water spot came right out except for were I scratched the varnish. Don't try to rub the spot out, just use an iron (haven't had to try the blow dryer.

Jonathan Lefor
- Columbus, OH US

We recently purchased a very expensive dining room table for our new home. At first, I was so nervous about it, that I kept it covered with a tablecloth, but realizing I was covering up the reason we bought it in the first place, its beauty, I removed the cloth only to have my son set a glass of juice outside the placemat. It caused a pretty bad water ring and I am afraid of using anything on it, for fear of making it worse. Will the iron method work on water rings? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Sheila K.
- Airdrie, Alberta, Canada

If you are cautious and want to hire a furniture refinishing expert to come in and fix this stain, no one will fault you, Sheila -- it is your own new and very expensive table!

But, c'mon :-)     
-- we've printed testimonials from twenty-six people who have have said the iron method worked on water rings. How many more testimonials must we print before you feel we've given you enough to decide whether to try it or not? :-)

I'm glad I don't have an expensive table at risk; and good luck whichever way you go!

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

LEFT A HOT TEAPOT ON MY WIFES PRIDE AND JOY A HIGHLY POLISHED CHERRY DINING TABLE LEAVING A WHITE MARK ABOUT THE SIZE OF A SAUCER. TRIED THE WARM IRON AND LINEN CLOTH HAY PRESTO AFTER ABOUT THREE MINUTES THE MARK DISAPPEARED BEFORE MY VERY EYES MAGIC!!!!!!!!!THANK YOU WHOEVER POSTED THIS SOLUTION YOU SAVED MY BACON

D. NEWINS
- DUNDEE, SCOTLAND, UK

We left a solid wood entertainment center outdoors temporarily and covered as best as we could with a tarp but rain still leaked in, now some of the edges and seams have dark (almost black) water stains. Any suggestions?

Donna Alston
hobbyist - Bethesda, MD

I placed a warm cardboard pizza box on my coffee table, and about an hour later discovers a huge white, heat stain. Shot hot air at the stain for about 10 minutes using my hair dryer on hot and am so relieved to tell you the stain in gone! Thanks for the great advise!

Maria Palis
- Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

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