How to remove water stains / white rings from wood tables & furniture

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:)

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 towel 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 where I scratched the varnish. Don't try to rub the spot out, just use an iron (haven't had to try the blow dryer).

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

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 eBay or Amazon] on hot and am so relieved to tell you the stain in gone! Thanks for the great advise!

I too want to report success with the ironing method of removing water marks (or, clouds in this case). BUT be forewarned to keep the not-too-hot iron moving, and don't stay on it too long, and do not apply heavy pressure. Keep checking every 30 seconds as someone above suggested, or you may damage the wood surface!
I followed up with lemon oil and it is 95% perfect.

A. Hi Juanita; hi David.
I know it sounds counter-intuitive because the iron caused it, but have you attempted the iron solution?

It strikes me as at least possible that steam from the ironing got infused into the finish, causing the 'emulsion' we've talked about, and that a dry iron might solve that problem like it solved other folks' problems. Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

After daughter placed KFC box on polished furniture, was horrified to find white cloudy stain this morning

Having used the hairdryer for only a few seconds the stain has gone. Just want to say great big thank You for this help. I was already to pay french polisher to do his stuff. SAVED!

THAT WAS AMAZING! I'm living with a surrogate mother right now. Her grandson was over and left a burrito on her cherry wood table. It left a mark. The ironing thing WORKED! I was so amazed and as she said, she was so "geeked!" lol. Thanks guys!

WOW! After delegating a beautiful drop leaf cherry side table to plant holding duty following the unfortunate setting of a hot cup of soup on it. I am pleased to report that the white ring is GONE after following the directions of this thread with an iron and t-shirt. The table has been returned to it's former duty in the living room and I feel like I have saved a thing of beauty. Thanks for the information.

A. I had a white ring on a table at work (and didn't have an iron handy), but I had read that you could rub the broken edge of a walnut on a stain to remove the white ring. Not having a walnut handy either, I broke open a brazil nut and it worked! The white ring disappeared in a matter of seconds.

The iron and cloth actually works! I thought I would have to refinish my coffee table, but this took out two white water stains with no problem. One of them disappeared right away, but the older stain took a good 15 minutes of going over until it blended back into the wood grain. It seems to help if you move the cloth around in broad circles. My guess would be that the wood oils are being distributed across the bleached area. Great tip...THANKS!

WOW - I had three water rings left from a plant on a brand new pine box - less than a minute with a hair dryer and they disappeared......Thanks for the tips on this site.

A. Sorry for that problem, Sheila. Sorry to hear the sad situation, Inga.

If you are cautious and you want to hire a furniture refinishing expert to come in to try to fix these stains, no one will fault you! -- it's your expensive tables, and if the iron makes things worse, it's you who gets stuck with the poor results.

But, c'mon now, cousins :-)
-- we've already printed testimonials from dozens upon dozens of people who have have said the iron method worked on their water marks and rings. If that isn't enough to help you decide, nothing else will either. Sorry, but no one can guarantee that you won't burn your table or otherwise make the problem worse; all we can say is that the great majority who tried it were happy with the result.

Good luck whichever way you decide to go! -- Cousin Ted

A. Hi Jeffrey.
An iron certainly won't remove white nail polish nor any other color, but I'm guessing you're actually speaking of a white ring from a spill of nail polish remover? I have no actual experience with that, however, most nail polish remover, especially older stuff is acetone mixed with water.

I think there's a good chance that the acetone evaporated long ago leaving water emulsified in the finish which hopefully can be removed with this iron & towel method. Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Had a 4 year old white cloud-like stain from a pie that I thought was cooled enough with a hot pad beneath it, to set on my beautiful Burl wood dinning table. I was very hesitant to try the iron method as I felt it may damage it further. So I tried many other methods suggested through the years to get it out without success. What a waste of time. Finally I put the iron on low, put a pillow sheet cover over the stain and rubbed lightly for about one minute and the old pie plate size stain is 100% gone.

Sherry

My boyfriend's grandmother gave us a beautiful antique coffee table for Christmas, and not one month later did we have 2 white rings (either from coffee cups, cold drinks, or both). I was armed with both toothpaste and mayonnaise, but before I went to it I decided to Google "remove rings from wood" and stumbled upon this page. 10 minutes later, thanks to all of you and my trusty hair dryer, both rings are gone and the table looks brand new.

Thank you so much!

Wow, all I have to say is the Iron and t-shirt method to get water stains out of wood is UNBELIEVABLE!
I have had my table for 5 years and tonight after dinner I somehow got a 3rd water stain on it. It was so awful, I wanted to toss my table out the window!
I thought I'd surf online to see if there is any solutions to this problem and THANK GOODNESS for this website!
The 5 year old stains came out and the most recent stain (after dinner tonight) is also out!
You have made my evening!
I would love to know who came up with this brilliant solution!
THANK YOU!

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Ed. note: Heather G of San Antonio was the one to suggest it here, back in 2005. Where she first heard it she didn't say :-)

My partner put a bowl of hot vegetables on pine table, with a protective cloth underneath but when we cleared up we had a severe white heat stain 12" x 4". She was distraught. Checked on web for solutions and found this site. Followed numerous posters instructions on the medium hot iron through cotton tee shirt slowly moving back/forwards over stain and hey presto within a few minutes the mark had completely disappeared. Just wanted to record our heartfelt thanks to the many contributors to this site for the advice which cured our disaster.

John, England

Well, I just tried the medium hot iron and napkin trick and it burned my table. Now not only do I have the white watermark but all around it is very dark so it is worse than ever. Tried the hair dryer on another area with a water mark and no luck there either but at least it did not burn the wood. Tried this for over 15 minutes with no results.

Sorry that it didn't work for you, Sherri, but thanks for letting us know. When about 40 people in a row say that something is a miracle, it's nice to have it put back in perspective as: an excellent tip in most cases, but not a guaranteed miracle :-)

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Another success story for using an iron on lower heat with a clean cloth to remove white water marks on wood. Astounding. Fabulous. Thanks much.

I suspect that the furniture of the person who didn't have success might have had a lacquer finish rather than an oil or varnish. Just a thought.

A related question: some years back I put a container holding water and flowers on a soft maple bookshelf. The container, I believe, was a tin can. The finish on the bookshelf is tung oil [affil links]. The ring left behind is black. I'm wondering if the iron trick might be worth trying?

What is it about the iron that removes the white water marks? Does it simply dry embedded dampness?

A. Nail polish remover is acetone [on eBay or Amazon], a very strong solvent, plus water. I'm afraid it may have dissolved the lacquer/varnish and you'll have to re-do the table ... but if's a white mark it just might be the emulsion we speak of and, if so, maybe the iron & towel process might work.

After moving into a new house- space was at a minimum- but I had to work on the draperies in order to have privacy. I covered an expensive cherry wood table with cardboard and two- three layers of sheets to steam iron the draperies as I installed them. 2-3 weeks later as the most of the furniture and books etc was now in place I uncovered the central table to my horror to find LARGE Large areas of white water stains from were I had ironed the draperies on the table. I thought I was going to have to get rid of the table. I am glad I did an internet search first. The Iron trick worked. It removed very large areas of white steamed in water marks that had sat for weeks on the dark finished cheery wood. 10 min is all it took. I used an old Egyptian cotton sheet.

A. I live with a HITLER roommate and I put a flower vase full of water on his antique cabinet, After at least a week after vase sitting up there I took it down flowers have died...OH MY GOD the vase leaked and left a huge black ring plus black inside ring size of a grapefruit. My roommate is tall and he looks at this spot every night because he goes for a walk and grabs his hat and walkman he sets right next to the stain. Tonight I put a pamphlet he had up there on cabinet on top of stain. He went for a walk I mixed ashes and mayonnaise rubbed it on and began hair drying it. That failed but it looked a little better then I put a glob of mayonnaise on it and used the iron and by the way I had 1 hour to do this. The stain was kinda going away and HITLER walked in I told him I was ironing clothes for work, he took his shower and I grabbed more mayonnaise and Mr Clean Magic Eraser. BOOM IT'S GONE.

Rub the stain with mayonnaise and Mr. Clean Magic Eraser pad [on eBay or Amazon] it will go away.

Can't quite put my finger on it, but for some reason I can't see the relationship with your roommate flowering into romance, Mary :-) Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E. Striving to live Aloha finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

My husband left a bottle of rubbing alcohol on the kitchen table and my son dumped it on the table, ruining the finish and leaving ugly white marks which were much worse than any water ring. I tried everything I could think of and nothing worked. I found two solutions on this site that worked. First I tried baking soda [on eBay or Amazon] and non-gel toothpaste and had marginal success. Then I tried the Iron and it worked best where I had done the toothpaste mix and only marginally where I hadn't. So I went back and did the whole section with the toothpaste and baking soda again, washed it off with water and dried it immediately and when it was dry I used the iron. I finished off with regular furniture polish. Wow!

It's not an expensive table, but I certainly didn't want to replace it yet. Plus we are having company and a birthday party so I didn't want it to look awful. Thanks to everyone who posted and to this site.

I tried your iron on a tea towel to get out the white water mark on my dining room table, and, obviously used too high a heat (or too long). The varnish bubbled up. Now what do I do? Help!

The iron and linen towel method was as miraculous a cure for my old, old water mark as everyone has said. If it doesn't work for you at first, don't give up - just turn up your iron in small increments and keep on ironing and checking. In one last pass, the stain completely disappeared - it wasn't a gradual fading. I thank everyone who wrote and convinced me to try it!

I just cried, you saved my job. I'm a caregiver for a man at night. He got a cramp in his foot really bad, so I made him a foot soak. The water wasn't hot enough so I got water from the instant hot faucet. I poured it in the basin and it leaked onto my foot. In pain and not thinking I put the measuring cup down on the end table. When I lift the cup to my horror a huge 5" white ring. Fearing losing my job, I went on Internet from my cell phone and found your web site. It worked; in less than 1 min my job was saved. The white ring was gone! I can't thank you enough, if his wife would have seen it she would have fired me!

name & town deleted by editor
Oklahoma
October 24, 2008

I went on line after we put a hot lasagna pan on the table - even with cloth underneath, we got the water stain mark. It is a brand new dining room table. I took the advise of many and used an iron and white t-shirt - like magic I can barely see the mark now. I am so happy, since I found the thing that worked best. The day before my husband tried tooth paste which obviously didn't work. thanks again

The iron/blow dryer trick works! In my case and I suspect many others who responded favorably, the "Finish" is actually polyurethane or a urethane based coating(plastic). These coatings are very common even the best of furniture these days. Antique furniture that has been refinished, many times has a urethane topcoat.
The cloudy "stain" is probably due to heat or chemical interaction with the plastic, softening it and then leaving a residue behind to dry. What's happening to the disappearing cloud in the iron trick is the heat from the iron is remelting the plastic. That's why it is important to go easy at first and let the lint-free (very important) cloth cool down before removing it. If it feels sticky as you pull the cloth back, stop and wait a few seconds for the coating to set/dry again. Medium heat, no pressure, and 5-10 seconds, cool down, lift, examine, try again if necessary. Feathering out the edges may be necessary, remember...your melting plastic...go easy! If the finish is wax, varnish, tung oil [affil links], or one of the myriad of other "natural" finishes, this trick may have varying degrees of success or none at all. It has always amazed me at the amount of time and money that my wife sinks into polishing the urethane plastic finishes on our expensive Ethan Allen furniture. Plastic can look shinier with a wax coating, but a damp cloth will do the same thing if the urethane hasn't faded in the sun.

Hot Iron and Lint free Material worked a Treat .

Wife may stop nagging me now !

Thank you.

This was great information to find and it solved my problem. I have a great honey oak finished dining table we used for lunching one day using chili mugs. When we finished I noticed a significant white "heat" stain about 3" in dia. wherever a mug had been placed. I used a flour sack towel folded over once and a medium hot iron on each stain for about 10 minutes. This worked perfectly without any damage. Thanks so much!

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS....my aunt had a cherry table and her grandson left watermarks on it. She was upset so I went online and googled the question as to how to get the stain out and just left her house with my iron and t-shirt in tow and alas no stain left whatsoever. Thank you all!

Holy Wow!
My piano had a HUGE water stain from a plant that was leaking. I am not kidding, I have covered it for 3 years with books or anything to not show the hideous stain. I read about steam ironing it, tried it and it is all but disappeared! Took a good 15-20 minutes, but I just can't believe this worked so well. It is my husband's late Mother's piano, so you can imagine how awful I felt when we found the water mark. Thank you all soooo much for this tip!

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Ed. note: And thank you, Vikki, for the before & after pictures which now lead off this topic!

I've just bought a Georgian/Regency flame mahogany night stand at auction. I knew it had a couple of very obvious watermarks,and so it was obviously cheaper than if it was perfect. Had a quick look on the internet - on the off-chance of finding a remedy - and found this site. I was in two minds about sticking an iron on a 200-year old piece of furniture, but I gave it a go with a cotton shirt. Set the heat about halfway and left it on for increasingly long periods. And it works! Amazing! Don't be put off by the steam which you'll start to see when you lift the iron & cloth - just wipe it off. That's simply the moisture escaping from the wood. Marvelous!

New babysitter tonight - apparently he didn't know *not* to put the hot pizza box directly on the kitchen table. HUGE white spot... I turned on the iron per these recommendations, held my breath and began ironing an old t-shirt over the stain. IT WORKED! The stain is completely gone! FYI: I started with a low setting (4) and slowly went up (6-ish)... Thanks so much!

I had a beautiful Dark Red/Burgundy Color Wood Desk with a soft shine.... I left for vacation for a couple weeks and while I was out someone had used my office/desk. They left me a beautiful Water Ring-(Quite Large) as a present when I got back.

I tried letting it soak in Mayonnaise for the night as instructed by several sites on the internet...This just softened the look of the ring, Also, I tried hot iron on white cloth...No change,

Then I found a site that said to try a non-gel toothpaste, to gently scrub into wood water stain in a circular motion. This did the trick. You can barely see the circle...Its virtually gone.

I have been married for 42 years and looking at my mother in law's table stains for all of that time. The table is 66 years old and my wife has never seen the table without the stains. I tried the hot iron and cloth technique and it did eventually work. I had to be persistent and spend several hours on some of the stains, but it sure did work.

FANtastic - great trick. my dad used it & has been suitably impressed. worked on our wood table where plant had been overwatered & 'leaked' over several weeks without us realizing - GREAT TIP. THANKS

WOW! I just tried using the t-shirt and Iron method and it completely removed the water rings on my wood table. Thank so much for the tip : )

The iron and cloth didn't work for me. Still have white heat/water rings on teak veneer table. I also noticed that after the treatment the grain in the stain seemed coarser and raised a bit. Now it looks like time to refinish.

WOW! All I have to say is THANK YOU, EVERYONE! My fiance brought home an armful of magnificent roses. It was only when their time was up that I realized the damage wrought to my wonderful old oak dresser. You all saved the day.. and my peace of mind! I can not be more thankful ...

A. After a festive Christmas celebration with a flaming Christmas pudding, I discovered a round white ring on my Bombay Co dining table. I tried many of the products recommended here: Restor-A-Finish, Mr Clean Magic Eraser, mayo, all to no avail.

I've had too many disasters with irons to try that, so I used the hair dryer. It was taking a long time to get any results (over 20 minutes) by holding it several inches away so I tried it right up close to the wood and it worked! The most effective was almost like using the hair dryer as an eraser - even touching the wood - and the ring which had been thick and very white disappeared! Miraculous. I rubbed it down with Restor-A-Finish [affil links] to minimize any damage I did, but am very grateful. Thank you!

There was several white stains on our dining room table from hot food in heavy paper plates being placed on the table. I thought my table was destroyed but after finding this site and using the iron with a tee shirt it is like new again. I just could not believe that all of the stains were completely gone. It was magic!
Thank you for the great advice.

You are superstars! Hot iron worked on a huge water stain on a pine table - thank you so much! Took less than a minute too, brilliant!

I could not believe it - IT WORKS like magic. The white baseball size spot is gone.

I bought a cherry table about a year ago from a friend that was moving. After I got it home I noticed several white water rings. I tried everything (or thought I did)short of having it refinished. Tried the iron and white cotton cloth today and I am thrilled w/the results. This REALLY works. No more unsightly white rings. Thanks for all the posts.

A. I tried all of the above and nothing worked so I got fine sandpaper and sanded out the white mark. THIS WORKED. I almost didn't even need the Old English scratch cover but I put it on anyway. Hey I even went over other flaws with the sandpaper and the furniture looks like new. This did not cause any damage whatsoever. It was quick and easy.!

Wow Wow Wow the iron method really does work! My beautiful Ercol dining table had a hot plate put on it and I was devastated to see the white mark left behind. Too afraid to use an iron I began using a hair dryer. This didn't do anything so I very slowly began to use a dry iron over a tee shirt. Nothing happened. I then plucked up the courage to use the steam. I couldn't believe my eyes. The mark disappeared. I am in a state of shock. I really didn't think this could possibly work. To anyone with a similar problem, I say go ahead and do it. IT WORKS.

My room mate left 2 large white stains on oak urethane covered sofa arms, and also left a damp and hot plate on the love seat, leaving another white stain.....

Worried about having either needing to refinish both arms, or finding some other way to do this, till I found this.

Worked perfectly, used a "COTTON" tee shirt and the iron on medium. No more stains. Wish I'd remembered this, used it years ago, to raise the wood grain and lightly sand out a cup ring.

Thanks!

John

A. So I must have got nail polish remover on my nice finished desk. I woke up and there was a small white cloud mark. I knew I would be annoyed by this for the rest of my life so first I tried Some rubbing alcohol because at first I didn't think the alcohol in the Remover made the stain even though now I'm sure of. When that made the stain worse I panicked and tried basic soap and water which did nothing. I immediately looked it up on google and was told to try toothpaste and that did nothing either. I found this site and used the Iron and Fabric combo but if anything in my situation it made it worse! So I kept thinking and by now this small mark became a huge stain. I then went to my cabinet and pulled out some Olive Oil. I put a little on a cloth and sprinkled salt over the oil. I then rubbed the cloth on the desk and wiped off the remains and voila! It's 90% gone. It actually made the entire desk smoother. I don't know what gave me that impulse but it worked and I'm so happy with the results!

A. Was nervous about the warm iron technique, so I tried the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser pad [on eBay or Amazon] suggestion: worked perfectly! Just don't rub too hard.