Not too long ago we bought a beautiful mahogany table, during dinner one evening, someone passed a hot dish and set it down on the table, with nothing under it. It didn’t take but a second and the damage was done, our once gorgeous table now spotted with a permanent ugly white heat stain. Or so we thought until we discovered that we could easily remove it with this simple do it yourself tip . . .
How to Remove Hot Spots/White Marks from Furniture
You’ll Need:
an Iron
a thin cotton cloth
First, make sure that the iron is filled with water, as it’s supposed to be and then be sure that the table is washed and dried well before you begin.
Place a clean, cotton t-shirt or thin towel over the white scorch marks on the table
Set the iron to medium with the steam on (I know, I know, it’s hard to believe that steam will help when it caused the problem to begin with!)
Iron gently for about 30-60 seconds over the mark, remove and quickly wipe away any excess moisture that is on the table.
Repeat until the marks are gone.
Once the marks have been removed, apply a small amount of olive oil to the table using a soft clean, lint-free cloth.
Tips-n-Tricks
A few notes: There are varying reports of whether or not this works. As you can see from the photos above, it worked quite well for us, however, it may be dependent on several factors, how bad the stain is, what kind of finish the piece of furniture has (varnish/shellac/poly/etc) I couldn’t tell you what our table has, I don’t know what it is.
Here are just a few of the other tips that members have submitted over the years for this issue:
- In a small bowl, combine toothpaste and baking soda at a 50/50 ratio, then rub in using a soft cloth. (Please note, Do not use gel toothpaste!)
- In a small bowl combine salt and olive oil, mixing to form a soft paste, apply with a soft cloth and let it sit for half an hour. Wash and dry normally
- Apply a small amount of Miracle Whip Mayonnaise, allow it to sit for 1 hour and then wash and dry well.
- In a small bowl combine Baking soda and a couple drops of water mixing to form a soft paste, apply with a soft cloth and let it sit for half an hour. Wash and dry normally
- Using a soft cloth, gently rub the stain with Vaseline, let it sit overnight. Wash and dry the table normally.
this works wonderfully. a couple years ago i used the iron & t-shirt method to fix white marks on a high end dining table someone was selling cheap. looked like new!
thanks! i have several pieces that have stains! great, easy solutions!
i have a black mark on my table, wonder if this would work…
i collect previously owned furniture, so this will come in handy. i wonder….. if some variation of this steaming will help raise groves left in wood…hmm gets me to thinkin ;>
i plan to try some of these ideas on a teak bench to remove white spots caused by liquid shower soap. thanks all.
just be mindful to try the least invasive of all of these ideas first.
thank you so much! this is very much need. i will be trying on a dinning table.
Mineral oil works just as well on a clean cloth just apply you don’t need an iron etc
This totally worked. Thank you 😉