BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Cleaning Removing White Spot from Table

I have a beautiful cherry end table that has a white round spot. I think someone left a glass on it and it stayed wet for awhile. Any ideas on how to get this out?

I'm still trying to get some input on this. Any ideas? Thanks!

Try mayonnaise. Put some on & let it sit for several hours. Then, wipe it up & buff it.

If that doesn't work, try the cherry colored Olde English, and if that doesn't work, you might need to either re-stain the spot or refinish the top. If it's a small spot, a stain pen might help. But, try the mayo and then the Olde English first--they are very safe and worth a shot. I've removed many white spots with mayo.

Good Luck!

Thanks BellaDeb, I'll try the mayo or Old English and see if it helps.

Hey, Chloe, did you get the white spot out?

Chloe, for the white spots or "circles" left on wood furniture, Deborah gave good advice with the mayonaise. I remembered reading something about it in the "Queen of Clean" book by Linda Cobb. She said to use mayonaise, but NOT the low fat kind; it won't work. Add some salt or cigarette ash and massage the mixture into the spot for 45 minutes! She said it was the massaging that gently buffs the mark away!

She says to let the mixture then sit on the spot for a few hours, preferably overnight. Also, linseed oil and rottenstone (both in hardware stores) works really well, too, she said. Hope this helps. Let us know how it turns out, okay?

Trish

If the mayonnaise doesn't work, I have used Colgate white toothpaste. Just put a little on a damp cloth, rub then wipe clean. Just make sure you use the paste and not the gel.

Thanks for your ideas everyone! I still have not gotten the spot out, but I have a few more things to try. I did use the mayonnaise, rubbed it in and left it on for awhile but it didn't work. I will try it again with adding salt as babyquacker mentioned. Also need to try the toothpaste. I'll keep you posted!

The toothpaste I think works only when the mark is on top of the finish, not when the wood is bleached. In this situation I think that you are really going to have to re-stain the area some how. The pens made for this really are effective.

My husband and I had a really bad experience with our last move. Our moving company really made a mess of some of our antique furniture.

Some of the pieces had to be refurbished, they weren't refinished, just cleaned up a bit. The antiques repair guy who came to the house brought a spray can with him of a product that he sprayed on the white spot, and it actually lifted the water causing the white spot up through the stain. The spot still remained, but it was considerably lightened.

I don't know what the product was called though. This was three years ago and I can't remember the name. You could try calling some refinishing places and asking them if they've heard of something similar. I don't believe it's something that you can just purchase at Walmart or HomeDepot, but I could be wrong.

I just remember that it was clear and smelled odd. I also didn't realize but the refinishing man said the white spot is caused by actual moisture that's still being retained under the finish, so if you can pull the moisture out (via the spray product) the spot goes away.

Hope this helps. Sorry I don't know the product name.