How to Remove White Water Marks From Your Hardwood Furniture

Think your fine piece of furniture is ruined? There are ways to take that water stain out and I will show you several methods that have been tried and proven by the experts.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. First thing is to determine if the piece of furniture is worth keeping. If it is something that you really don't care for anyway why waste your time trying to fix it up. Please do not toss it out because your junk is always someone else's treasure, and never forget the really needy that would love to have even a damaged piece of furniture. Next, once you decide to keep it, inspect the damage and see if the stain is light, almost white, or dark. Generally speaking the darker the stain the deeper into the wood it has gone. White stains are the easiest to get out and sometimes the really dark stains require serious professional refurbishing that can cost a lot of money.

2. Now lets get to the problem of trying to remove the stain. I will tell you from experience that there is no one perfect or simple solution. You may have to try several methods before obtaining any noticeable results. Also, the only stains that will come out fast are the ones that you catch almost immediately and sometimes they even take a bit of tender loving care and time to correct. I have put together several of the most effective methods and I hope that they prove to be of use in saving that beautiful piece of furniture.

3. The most common solution seems to be to use toothpaste, not jell type, and with a soft cloth gently rub the spot in a circular motion and you may even leave the paste there for a few minutes and try again. This seems to work well if the stain is relatively new. Remember this is a water stain and first we need to get the water out of the wood. I find that if you take baking soda and mix it with a light oil like olive oil to make a paste and put it pretty thick on the stain and cover it with a piece of wax paper and let it sit overnight it will really be effective in removing a lot of the water from the wood. After you remove the paste you will clean the area with more oil on a clean soft cloth and let some of the oil stay on the stain in almost a puddle and protect it from pets and things of that nature and just let it sit and do its thing. I find that Vaseline works very well and stay where you put it. Sometimes you may need to let the Vaseline stay over the stained area for days or maybe even weeks to thoroughly remove the stain. Other things to use are mayonnaise, which is also an oil based product. I do not prefer mayo because it can go rancid and attract insects and other nasty things. Armour-All is said to work pretty well, again an oily based product. Peanut Butter makes a great past to put over the stain and like Vaseline it stays where you put it. The deeper the stain, the longer you need to keep the area covered and allow time for the magic to work. After attempting to remove the stain using one or several of these methods you may find that you are still not totally happy with the results and you are not about to call in a professional and spend a lot of money. You may try using a product like Minway Blend-Fil Pencils. They come in a variety of colors and can be very successful in "covering" a small stain. A little practice and you may not even be able to see the stain at all. For the more adventurous you may try applying an oil based stain to the damaged area. You may need to let the stain sit on the stain for a while to soak in and you must take caution to keep the stain confined to the damaged area and not the surrounding wood that is not damaged. Using a soft cloth you can buff the stained area and "feather" the edges to blend the new into the old. You may want to practice on a piece of scrap wood first. All this may seem like a lot of work but in the long run it is all worth it.

Tips & Warnings

• If the stained area is small you can even make your own stains by using things like shoe polish, reduced strong coffee, oil based paint mixed with thinner, anything that is oil based and matches the color you are trying to fix. I really prefer oil based products as they tend to sink into the wood and water based products tend to sit on the surface and besides, aren't we trying to remove a water stain, so why add to the problem.
• Keep all toxic products out of reach of children
• Be sure to use safety glasses when working with toxic chemicals such as stains and thinners
• Avoid using stripping products to remove the stain as they will cause more damage to the surface and usually result in totally restoring the piece

[danandphyllis]

on 11/11/2009 Again, over 360 hits, even had a nice comment from a friend and still no earnings. Funny how some articles get 20 hits and earn about one cent per hit and others get hundreds of hits and earn nothing. I wonder who determines the rate of compensation? Needs to be reviewed and upgraded I believe. Thanks for those that found this article of interest and help.

[hkimbrell]

on 10/25/2009 Very nice article! I've been trying to figure out how to do this for quite some time now. THANKS! 5 stars & recommended!