Hi! I normally hang out in Cook’s Talk and posted this question in Breaktime. Someone was nice enough to send me over here with the question. We inherited a lovely rosewood dining room table that has some white spots on it. I am wondering how to go about removing them. Some internet searching recommended white tooth paste, alcohol or cigarette ash. I called a wood working store that recommended a product called Jasco White Ring Remover. Before I do anything, I thought I’d check with the people in the know! The largest spot is about 2″ long. Do you have any recommendations on what to do with this?
Replies
There are a host of home and professional remedies. Some are more or less effective based on the extent of the damage and the type of finish. The objective is to get the embedded water out of the finish. They fall into a number of categories:
* Oily, possibly with abrasive. Mayonnaise, baby oil, or vaseline wiped on and left overnight. "stain removal cloths", or baby oil and cigarette ashes rubbed until stain disappears
* Heat (from hair dryer)
* Alcohol (padding with a cloth fairly dampened in denatured alcohol)
* Proprietary products, normally a slow or weak solvent. Might be called a "restorer", "blush eliminator", "ring remover," or "reflow solution." Applied and left to dry.
attached are some before and after water spots I removed with removal cloths and alcohol. The one on the bookcase took about 30 minutes; the one on the cedar chest took about 3 minutes.
Edited 11/25/2006 8:05 pm ET by byhammerandhand
Edited 11/25/2006 8:07 pm ET by byhammerandhand
Wow. Our little measley dots are nothing in comparison to your bookcase. That's phenomenal! We'll go back and try the alcohol again. When you say 'removal cloth' are you talking about a specific type of fabric or just any clean, soft cloth?
"attached are some before and after water spots I removed with removal cloths and alcohol. The one on the bookcase took about 30 minutes; the one on the cedar chest took about 3 minutes."
The table came from Dania furniture, and according to them is a laquered finish Skovoy (manufacturer) table. We have tried very fine rubbing compound which only polished the surface, then briefly rubbed in denatured alcohol. The alcohol did not seem to affect the stain, but did seem to soften the surface and the surface remained tackyish for about 10min afterwards. Based on your comment above maybe trying the alcohol longer would have an effect, although the surface softening makes one nervous. You described 30min with removal cloth and alcohol - could you describe the technique? Is there something to watch for before too much softening??
Then we tried a Jasco white ring remover cloth and it did affect the apparent density of the stain, but did not make it disappear by any means. We will also plan to pick up some Howard Restore a finish based on comments here as well.
Thanks
I have seen the Jasco and presume it's similar to what I used
https://shop.guardsman.com/store/detail/product_detail_theme_6/?product_id=6042
Hammerhand, application of alcohol appears to soften the surface, and so far after a couple of wipe on/rub lightly/ wipe off exercises, it does not seem to change the white discoloration. In terms of technique - is it wipe on, let evaporate? Or is it wipe on let sit for some period, then lightly wipe off? Would heat application help? Can it melt the surface, and when wiped off take the surface with it?
Thanks
So far have tried - Jasco white ring remover cloth, Howards Restore A Finish, fine polishing compound, and a couple of alcohol rubs, but not done yet :) Interestingly, the Jasco initially helped slightly, but that may have been due to surface moisture, but repeated rubbing/soaking has not made further change, so alcohol carefully applied(?) may be the answer. Going very carefully....
Woopie! found that ethyl alcohol (happened to have some) worked like a champ! I had tried isopropol alcohol without success assuming alcohol was alcohol, but interestingly the ethyl (chemically the same as denatured) worked. Now the funny thing is we have a rubbed out/glossy area over three of the stain areas. I may have to resort to a surface burnish with steel wool or something and a wax or other finish to even out the lacquer surface.
Interestingly, a new milky area appeared beneath a table cloth last night during a dinner party. That motivated the tryout of the ethyl alcohol, and it was removed very quickly. After that the others were soaked a couple of times for several minutes and they faded. So fresher stains are removed more quickly. The glazing may be from heat and moisture, since we did have tea after dinner, otherwise it was wine, but there were no wine stains on the tablecloth.
If there are any ideas about how to "burnish" or refinish the surface patina I would appreaciate it, but that is minor compared to what was just done!
Thanks all!
Just read about your adventure' its sounds like the worst is over. I usually use a product called" Briwax". If you can't find it at your local hardware store try the internet . It really gives pro results with minimum effort. stay cool.
Have you tried just plain toothpaste? It worked, and when finished I just waxed and hand buffed the surface.
Bill
Several years ago I spotted "Howard Furniture Restore" in my local hardware store and made a disparaging remark about such "miracle products" to my sales buddy. He assured me that the stuff worked as advertised and further advised me to reserve comment unless I had first hand knowledge to the contrary. I bought a can just to prove that he was wrong. I think you can figure out the rest of the story....
You have already gotten some excellent advice in a previous post. I'll just suggest adding this to the list.
Good luck!
Try Liberon white ring remover. You can get it from Woodcraft stores or online and I think you can even get it from Amazon. It comes in a 6 oz. bottle and goes a long way unless you lend it to a neighbor who lends it to... you get the picture. I have used this stuff successfully for ten years and it works every time. It makes the repair spot glossy so you will need 0000 steel wool if your finish is lower luster. Hope this helps.
Terry
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