How to Remove White Rings and Water Spots Off Your Furniture
The dreaded white ring.
It can make a beautiful antique look like an old outdated piece of firewood.
White rings and water marks (usually a white haze on the finish) are caused by too much moisture building up underneath the finish, either from water or heat damage.
In this short article I will share a few easy steps you can use to do away with those terrible looking marks on those otherwise perfect pieces of furniture you own: Supplies: - Denature Alcohol (pick it up from your local hardware store, and don't drink it, you will go blind and die, no, seriously) - Jasco White Ring Remover (I know they sell it at my local ACE, search online) - Fine 100% cotton rag, I use old t-shirts.
- Paste Wax, I prefer Howards Citrus Shield but any furniture/autowax will do.
- Patience and Sobriety (it's easy to screw up if you are trying to rush it or are not paying attention) Application: Ok, so assuming you have those supplies listed above I will now go into the process of application: 1.
Take the Jasco White Ring remover and rub, with the grain over the damaged area.
Make sure you put a decent amount of pressure and see if you notice the haze started to fad or disappearing.
If you notice the haze disappearing continue to rub until it is completely gone.
If it does disappear you can skip the next steps and continue onto the step 6.
2.
Now if the white ring remover did not do a thing or slightly faded the damaged area no worries, it can be fixed but this next step takes some caution.
You will first need to check and make sure the finish of the table it not shellac because we will be using alcohol to remove the moisture from the finish and alcohol strips/removes shellac finishes.
- To test and see if the finish on your piece is shellac place a drop of denatured alcohol in an inconspicuous area on the piece.
If the finish gets sticky or dissolves you know its shellac.
- If it is shellac stop right now, continue using the Jasco White Ring remover and continue to the last step.
3.
This is where it gets tricky.
Take that cotton rag and fold it up into fourths.
Get it damp with The alcohol but not too damp.
Now the key is to wipe the cloth over several times in a quick fashion against the grain to evaporate stuck moisture while not letting the cloth stay in contact with the finish long enough for damage to occur.
As long as you are not applying the alcohol over shellac you should be safe.
4.
An example I remember hearing/reading somewhere goes like this: Imagine a plane touching down on the runway and then taking off in a very quick manner.
5.
Ok, so the white ring should now be practically gone after attempting either applications but now you might have a little haze or dullness from the alcohol or the white ring remover.
Our furniture/auto wax will solve the problem.
This is not necessary, your piece might look like new and if you are satisfied save yourself the pain of buffing.
Furniture wax is great for a final finish application.
Lots of varnishers and woodworkers refer to a process called "Finishing the Finish".
When a varnisher, finisher, or refinisher is done putting down their topcoat they are not done! They must rub it out and smooth out all the minor bubbles or imperfections.
Since we just applied a solvent to the finish it might have created an imperfection that we now need to get rid of.
6.
To apply the wax I would recommend either using another cotton cloth, paper towel of '0000 Steel wool, preferably synthetic steel wool.
You are going to want to put a medium amount of wax on your applicator (cloth, paper towel, or steel wool) and rub it on the surface of the piece in a circular motion until the entire surface is covered.
After applying the wax over the entire surface wait for it to dry to a haze.
Once you see a haze take another cloth folded into fourths and buff the surface.
I always buff in a pattern of circles, figure eights and zigzags.
You will want to fold your cloth over several times as to not re-apply the wax you are picking up onto the cloth.
The more you fold to a clean side of the cloth the quicker and easier it will be to get back to a nice gloss.
7.
After you have the wax buffed out your piece should look much better than before.
Congrats! I hope this article helps.
I will be posting more tips on furniture fixes along with some other interests of mine.
If you have any questions feel free to shoot me an e-mail: furniturehelp@raidz.
net.
It can make a beautiful antique look like an old outdated piece of firewood.
White rings and water marks (usually a white haze on the finish) are caused by too much moisture building up underneath the finish, either from water or heat damage.
In this short article I will share a few easy steps you can use to do away with those terrible looking marks on those otherwise perfect pieces of furniture you own: Supplies: - Denature Alcohol (pick it up from your local hardware store, and don't drink it, you will go blind and die, no, seriously) - Jasco White Ring Remover (I know they sell it at my local ACE, search online) - Fine 100% cotton rag, I use old t-shirts.
- Paste Wax, I prefer Howards Citrus Shield but any furniture/autowax will do.
- Patience and Sobriety (it's easy to screw up if you are trying to rush it or are not paying attention) Application: Ok, so assuming you have those supplies listed above I will now go into the process of application: 1.
Take the Jasco White Ring remover and rub, with the grain over the damaged area.
Make sure you put a decent amount of pressure and see if you notice the haze started to fad or disappearing.
If you notice the haze disappearing continue to rub until it is completely gone.
If it does disappear you can skip the next steps and continue onto the step 6.
2.
Now if the white ring remover did not do a thing or slightly faded the damaged area no worries, it can be fixed but this next step takes some caution.
You will first need to check and make sure the finish of the table it not shellac because we will be using alcohol to remove the moisture from the finish and alcohol strips/removes shellac finishes.
- To test and see if the finish on your piece is shellac place a drop of denatured alcohol in an inconspicuous area on the piece.
If the finish gets sticky or dissolves you know its shellac.
- If it is shellac stop right now, continue using the Jasco White Ring remover and continue to the last step.
3.
This is where it gets tricky.
Take that cotton rag and fold it up into fourths.
Get it damp with The alcohol but not too damp.
Now the key is to wipe the cloth over several times in a quick fashion against the grain to evaporate stuck moisture while not letting the cloth stay in contact with the finish long enough for damage to occur.
As long as you are not applying the alcohol over shellac you should be safe.
4.
An example I remember hearing/reading somewhere goes like this: Imagine a plane touching down on the runway and then taking off in a very quick manner.
5.
Ok, so the white ring should now be practically gone after attempting either applications but now you might have a little haze or dullness from the alcohol or the white ring remover.
Our furniture/auto wax will solve the problem.
This is not necessary, your piece might look like new and if you are satisfied save yourself the pain of buffing.
Furniture wax is great for a final finish application.
Lots of varnishers and woodworkers refer to a process called "Finishing the Finish".
When a varnisher, finisher, or refinisher is done putting down their topcoat they are not done! They must rub it out and smooth out all the minor bubbles or imperfections.
Since we just applied a solvent to the finish it might have created an imperfection that we now need to get rid of.
6.
To apply the wax I would recommend either using another cotton cloth, paper towel of '0000 Steel wool, preferably synthetic steel wool.
You are going to want to put a medium amount of wax on your applicator (cloth, paper towel, or steel wool) and rub it on the surface of the piece in a circular motion until the entire surface is covered.
After applying the wax over the entire surface wait for it to dry to a haze.
Once you see a haze take another cloth folded into fourths and buff the surface.
I always buff in a pattern of circles, figure eights and zigzags.
You will want to fold your cloth over several times as to not re-apply the wax you are picking up onto the cloth.
The more you fold to a clean side of the cloth the quicker and easier it will be to get back to a nice gloss.
7.
After you have the wax buffed out your piece should look much better than before.
Congrats! I hope this article helps.
I will be posting more tips on furniture fixes along with some other interests of mine.
If you have any questions feel free to shoot me an e-mail: furniturehelp@raidz.
net.
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