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Heat marks and water rings on wood

If the wood has a good finish (don't try on bare wood), mix equal parts of baking soda and regular white, non gel toothpaste rubbing the area that was affected by the water.

Lightly dampen corner of a clean, soft white cloth with water and dip into the paste. With circular motion gently buff the marks for a few minutes. Wipe area clean, and buff to a shine. Follow with furniture polish for a great protected shine.

If rings remain after buffing five minutes or so, they may have penetrated the wood; you might have to refinish the piece.

More Ideas

To remove white spots on darker wood, use petroleum jelly, vaseline, and rub over the white water mark.

You can use regular vegetable cooking oil to rub out water marks on real wood furniture. After rubbing with oil, let it sit for fifteen minutes and then polish as you regularly wood.

Visitors comments

your tip really worked! Comments By: Brenda Soanes Thank you very much! I had company today and the children set a hot plate of spagetti on my beautifull wood coffe table this left two major white stains the size of a dinner plate on the table.I tried the baking soda and toothpaste mixture and it workedx awsome. I can still see a faint spot where one of the satains wre but overall there are virtually gone! Thanx again.!!!!   Blomin marvelous! Comments By: Sandra Wilson (England) My son put some damp clothes from the line on my polished table top.I was out and when I came in and saw them i was livid. There was a big water mark the size of t-shirt on the table.It was horrible I went nuts with him. I weny on the Internet and found this most wonderful tip.Had no white toothpaste so I used green spearmint.It has worked better than expected.This tip is just wonderful and the lady who thought it is a GENIUS!!!!! absolutley wonderful tip 11 out of 10   new oak dining table Comments By: anon Have just used this tip tp fantastic effect - we left a plate with lit tealights on it on our new dining table and the next morning found a heat mark in the shape of the plate- has now vanished after using this tip.   Coffee Cup Rings on my precious rustic wood table? Not any more! Comments By: Kate (Australia) I have a lovely rustic wooden table and despaired of the white rings left by an ignorant coffee drinker. Heartbreak! Heartbreak! Heartbreak! The finish is rustic, but it took alot of work to get it that way. I was worried that too much work would mean refinishing the whole thing! But thanks to the baking soda and toothpaste tip, it looks like new again. Thanks sooooo much. You have saved a lot of my tears, and the life of the person who put their cup down without a coaster!   Heat Marks on Table Comments By: Ciaran Fantastic ! I got major brownie points Worked a treat Thank a million