We have an old wood table that has been used and abused for years. Bringing it out over the holidays for card playing, I commented how badly damaged it was and wished I knew how to remove the hideous white heat stains that marred the top. While talking I’m quickly covering the surface with a linen trying to hide the mess.
How did they get there? These white cloudy marks were caused by placing hot dishes directly on the surface. It’s been damaged like this for several years.
A few are from Chinese food takeout containers and another was caused by pizza boxes. It seems the heat from the container scorches or somehow steams the finish.
This is why we should always make sure to place potholders or folded towels on the tabletop first before setting hot food down. We may know this, but someone in the home forgot and so–here we are.
That wasn’t all though, there were also some watermark rings caused by setting coffee cups and glasses of soda directly on the surface. You name it–this piece of furniture was covered in it. Like I said–it’s been abused over time!
The good news is that the damage doesn’t need to be permanent, there is indeed a way to repair this and it’s not that difficult nor is there a need for any special products.
Even though I was dealing with an old piece of furniture that only held sentimental value, I understand the stress someone might be experiencing over a piece that is newer or more expensive.
The picture at the right (bottom) is a snap of the repaired table, all discoloration is gone (there is some glare but it’s due to image quality). One of these days I’ll figure out the camera and take better pictures–the wood has a dark finish but you’d never know it from these pictures!
What did I do to fix the problem? While setting out the table (as mentioned above in the introduction), a relative gave me this curious piece of advice:
- For the scorch marks, just take an iron and apply heat to the cloudy blotches, they’ll disappear!
Terrifying, right? But it’s an old table that we have shoved in a corner so with fingers crossed, I decided to take the chance and give it a try.
Success! How I Removed Heat Stains From Wood Furniture
I outlined the steps below in case you’d like to give this a shot too. It’s pretty aggressive so if it’s too risky for your comfort, don’t worry! I have some other ideas listed here as well (it’s probably best to start with those first).
- The first thing I did was wash the wooden surface and dry it well.
- Next, I took a clean, white cotton towel that wasn’t too thick and placed it over the scorch marks.
- Taking an old iron set to high dry heat, I carefully place it directly over the stain (with the towel in between for protection).
- I let it sit for close to a minute, checked, and nothing happened. The damage was still there.
- I kept reapplying the hot iron with no results, but once I turned the steam on–that’s when the magic happened. The marks literally disappeared!
- I couldn’t believe it and it defied logic to me–wouldn’t the steam cause more harm? All I know is that it worked.
- I was quick to wipe away any moisture and water left on the surface after each treatment.
- Added: A few of the comments below recommend finishing things off by wiping in a bit of olive oil once successfully getting rid of the stains, this helps nourish the wood and give it a bit of love after all that it’s been through.
A few days later and the surface is still great. The cloudy discolorations haven’t returned. I keep running my hand across the tabletop and I can’t feel any damage or change to the finish. I’m amazed at how easily this cleaned up–it’s a totally different piece of furniture now!
Caution: I have no idea if this affects the finish, I’m not an expert. It’s something I tried and worked very well in this case.
| Update (2023): I first published this here on Tipnut in January, 2007, so it’s been over 15 years since I wrote this article. There have been a few more stains develop over the years, but they’re new ones…not the originals mentioned here that were removed. I just go through the step-by-step directions outlined above and I haven’t noticed any long term negative effects to the wood at all. |
Updates
Although many are finding this works on their wood furniture pieces, some are reporting that this makes the problem WORSE (see the comments below).
- The reason for the discrepancy could be what the type of finish is…varnish or shellac.
I believe my old table in this project is varnish, but I haven’t tested it to confirm.
Glorious tips & suggestions have been contributed by many readers and those souls brave enough to test this method. Here’s the condensed version of the possible solutions if this technique is successful in removing the original stain–but then ADDS a permanent outline of the iron:
- Try a lower temperature and move the iron slowly around the location instead of letting it sit (thanks Matthew!).
- Others report success with hot temp & no steam (thanks Flora Monroe!)
- Another suggestion to fix this with just a hot iron hovering over the spots (not laying one down on cloth–but hovering–thanks mark harris, Tom, myf, Roxanne, Diana and Melanie!)–I believe they all used steam for the hover method.
- Also scroll down for Dan’s helpful tip using rubbing or polishing compound instead of the above technique if it’s too scary or aggressive for you.
- Timmer shared that the iron method made things worse, the fix that did the trick: spray furniture polish over top then work it in with extra fine steel wool (carefully so not to take off the existing finish). Next, buff with a clean rag once it dries.
Read the hundreds of comments below for all the feedback people have left and to review the results they experienced. I’m thrilled this tip has helped so many–believe me, I know the state of panic you’re in! Also continuing to organize recommended solutions for those who aren’t experiencing success yet, please drop a note if this worked (or didn’t work) for you :).
More DIY Methods To Try
If the removal technique shared above is a bit too aggressive for you, one of these easy tips may help restore the tabletop to looking brand new again…
- Mix 50/50 toothpaste and baking soda, rub in. Do not use gel toothpaste for this.
- Apply a paste of salt and olive oil, allow to sit several minutes (an hour at most). Wipe off.
- Apply Miracle Whip (Mayonnaise) and wipe away after an hour.
- Mix 50/50 vinegar and olive oil, smear over the watermark.
- Try straight toothpaste (non-gel). Apply with the grain then wipe off.
- Make a paste with baking soda and a few drops of water. Rub in then wipe off. You can also try salt instead of baking soda.
- Rub some Vaseline (or other petroleum jelly) into the watermark and leave overnight. Wash off in the morning.
I love you I love you I love you….thanks for posting this quick fix…I’m usually skeptical of these kind of things but it really worked…I bought a dark stained table from my neighbor and it already had some scratches on it but I put a hot cup of coffee right on the table and it left a horrible white ring…read your post and did the steam iron over a white towel and poof the ring was gone…thank you so much.
WOW – it works – I must admit I was scared to try this but it worked for me – I was dubious because I wasn’t (and still am not) sure if it’s laminated or not but my heat ring has gone. A linen tea towel, medium heat iron like I was ironing that area. No steam but there was a little natural steam from the tea towel I guess.
THANK YOU SO MUCH – the table is just a year old and I don’t need any more expenses right now 🙂
Here’s one for the books. I had a small ring on a dark table and no iron. So I heated water in a plastic container to use as the heat source, dipped cloth in the container and tried to wipe the stain away with the steam of the hot cloth…no luck. In the meantime, I placed the hot plastic container on the table and got a square outline 5 times bigger than the spot I was trying to remove!
Next day I bought an iron and removed both stains in less than a minute. Miraculous!!!
Hi there!! I used a hairdryer set on hot heat. No towel or steam. Just a couple minutes and it was gone. Sorry, I don’t have an iron. I did apply some olive oil as the spot felt a little raised after the heat.
WOW!! I am so excited that my table is back to it’s beautiful self!! We tried cooking salmon on a cedar board in the bbq. It was amazing! My husband had a towel underneath the board, and he put it on the table. As I was cleaning the table, I was sick to see that it left a large white area.
I used my iron on medium heat and high steam. I had a white tea towel and went over the white area with the iron for 5 seconds and it was completely gone. I already had previously put orange oil on it, so after the ironing it look amazing!
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!!
Thank you sooooooooo much for this tip. The white stain appeared after a chinese takeaway, even though we had used cork table mats. I was totally gutted when I saw the stain and thought the only way to get rid of it would be to have it revarnished. The table is dark mahogony and I used the white cotton tea towel with the iron on medium heat – was too scared to try the steam. After a couple of goes, the stain started to disappear and has now gone completely. THANK YOU!!!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I set a hot casserole dish on a trivot on my dining room table and ended up with a lovely patterened white spot. I was devestated. The table is fairly new, and I didn’t want to have to try stripping it and refinishing it. I found this tip of using steam. I was skeptical, but I tried it, and voila! It’s vanished! Amazing. I thin tried it on my coffee table that also had some white spots on it. Now they’re gone too!
If the idea of applying more heat by using an iron is just too much to contemplate, I have tried another remedy this morning after a coffee pot error last night. Equal parts of bicarb. powder and olive oil painted onto the mark and left for a few minutes rubbed off with a clean cloth and followed by the normal polish used on your particular wood. It’s been two hours and not a hint of the white mark as yet.
I’m staying with a friend for a few days. Got the munchies last night and microwaved some chicken parmigiana on a paper plate. Put another paper plate under it when I sat to eat, but that wasn’t enough. Next afternoon I noticed a huge white spot and a smaller one a couple inches away. My friend hadn’t noticed on her way out to work that morning.
I was figuring out how to break to news to her and figuring how I would fund either a fix or a replacement when I decided to give Google a try. Typed in “hot plate ruined table” and this site came up first. The original article was helpful, but the comments even more so!
First I used a hairdryer, but that did absolutely nothing. Then I got bolder and plugged in the iron. Got a towel and laid it down on the table. Put the iron on and moved it around to keep anything from getting scorched. Still nothing.
Turned the iron up and left it in place for nearly a minute at time. Checked results. Spot kept getting smaller when the heat was allowed to do its work. Within five minutes, it was like nothing had ever happened. Good as new.
Thanks it worked a treat table like new WOULD NEVER OF THOUGHT IT O GREAT
Thank you so much my mahogany table is like new! The results are amazing and it worked with in seconds saving me pounds on expensive restoration!
I was so skeptical on this method. I have an antique table that has numerous cloudy spots. My grandmother tired old English dark stain oil thinking that would work and it did nothing! We were also told to try damp coffe grounds with some cooking oil, that’s how furniture is stained in Mexico, so we tried thy with absolutely no luck. Google is a great thing, I googled how to remove cloudy spots and got directed to this tip, and I couldn’t be more happy! Thank you so much!
Thank you, We have an old antique table. My husband hovered the iron with steam on a high setting over the table in the spots we had (from setting hot plates down)and used old english dark wood scratch cover which wasn’t doing anything by itself. It worked like a charm. He thinks it may remove part of the finish and that is how it works. The spots did seem to get lighter and spread at first but then he polished it it looks pretty again. We are not ready with one child and another on the way to refinish the table it seems like a wasted effort and are glad that this worked because the table is beautiful and we want to enjoy it.
Couldn’t believe it was so simple! the steam iron worked a treat. Many thanks for the tips
WOW ….. so excited it worked …
Disappointed. Left a larger white area and a rough finish. Tried many of the suggestions. This table will need professional help.
I just tried the steam hover over a white mark on table. It worked..thanks
I’ve had cloudy marks on my wooden table for a couple of years (at least) and never dared to try taking them out. Finally googled for tips and found this one. Obviously scary at first!
When I saw the hairdryer alternative I tried it (didn’t seem as “extreme” ) and even though the marks seemed to faint slightly I can’t say it was a success. So I gathered the courage to pull out the iron and Wow!
I used a hand towel. You need to leave the iron down for a second. At first I was a bit to keen to lift it as soon as I had released the steam.
Thanks for a great tip!
Well i actually just tried this. I thought no this is rubbish but it worked on my table at first it took a while but the hotter the iron got it actually worked and im not lying about this..I used a small flannel (facecloth) So thank you for your help.
Kim from Palm Nth NZ
Worked FANTASTIC in removing a steam mark on a sealed wood floor left by a floor steamer. Laid an old towel over the mark and let the steam penetrate for iust a few seconds several times, wiping dry between times. “Hair of the dog,” I guess.
Worked for me too! I had tried a few polishes before trying the iron trick but none worked for me. My guess is that the heat from the steam reheats the finish and redistributes it evenly, causing the white marks to disappear. Note that I had to really rub in some of the marks but with a little elbow grease I managed to get all of the marks out. Be careful no to overdo it with the steam however. I noticed that I created a few light marks that weren’t there in the first place so be careful not to apply too much heat. Nevertheless, the table looks 1000 times better than before, even with the new smaller scuff marks.
Search for my method toward the bottom of the page to fix residual white caused by the steam.
My husband set a hot paper plate on my cherry dining table and put a hugs white spot on it…THE IRON TRICK WORKS TY TY TY TY TY
It works! Should have “googled” this a year ago. Saved us from having to refinish my Husband’s Grandmother’s 100 year old chest…which I thought I ruined between the hot mug ring & heating pad mark (which was huge).
Put the Iron on high, used steam & took passes over the very thin, white towel for 15 second intervals -would check it, rub the spot with the towel & redo until it was gone (took a good 5 intervals for the large mark).
Outstanding!
Hi man, that worked great. Fair play to ye. Had a tea-bag stain on a mahogany TV unit and I simply used a hot iron through a T-shirt with plenty of steam for about a minute or so and the stain just vanished! Dried away all the steam and then, like another responder reccomended I rubbed in a little olive oil to get the shine back up. Perfect!
May the road rise to meet you and the wind be always at your back!
Thanks
What you did is leave a big faint stain on the table, it isn’t lacking on shine. You used too much steam for too long. The olive oil might cover it up but see my method at the bottom of the page for better results and how to fix big faint white marks that too much steam creates.
This worked great!! Thank you so much for this! 🙂
After only 5 seconds the white stain just vanished!! I used a hot iron with steam and very thin white towel.
THANKS!! :-))
This is dangerous, I would be suprised if you didn’t leave a bigger but fainter white mark on the table doing it like that. See my post toward the bottom of the page for theory and a better method.
Even after reading all the comments, I was nervous to try this. But, after trying a number of other things, decided I had nothing to lose. I am THRILLED to say it worked, my table looks great again! Thanks for the tip!
OH MY GOD! Used the hover tequnique and it disappeared before my eyes, it was magic!
Yay!!!!!
It works perfectly!! White stain on custom table, less than 10 with hot iron w/ steam and the spot vanished…Thanks
I admit being a little nervous trying this, too, but it does work. I sprayed the spot lightly with water first, laid a thin towel over it, and use the medium steam setting on my iron. Within 10 seconds of moving the iron briskly across the towel the spot was gone. I can’t even tell that it was there. Thanks for the tip.
This worked amazingly well and fast, as in seconds!!! I had accepted the fact that my table was stuck with the glass marks. Thanks a bunch!
Was horrified to see white stains on new cherry table after I left a couple of hot pans on wet washcloths at the table.
Found this post. Tried it.
Couldn’t believe that it worked like magic! Kept moving the iron around. Used medium heat and no steam (wan’t brave enough to try steam + high heat). About 5 minutes, and both stains were gone.
Thank you ever so much!
I had two tables with the ugly white marks. i tried the steam iron
+ the white cloth on the least expensive one and it worked like magic. i was so excited when the first stain gone so I asked my husband to watch my magic trick while doing the second stain and he was amazed himself, so I decided to do the second table and agian it worked in second. so big thank you for this great tip
I can’t even believe this worked! But it DID!!!!!! Thankyou sooooooooo much!! 😀 This tip has saved me from getting into trouble with my mum. Absolute legend, i will never forget this!!!
Thank you so much, thought I was going to have to buy a new table. Steam and olive oil. Nice one!
Need some help…Had a laptop on my dining room table with a placemat under in…bad move…now my table has an imprint of the pattern of the placemat..no white marks though…it’s just deeply in the wax…do you think this iron trick will work or does anyone have any advice to help me?
We dreamed of a great dining set, not the usual starter sets that can be bought from Ikea. After saving enough money, we bought a beautiful one from a popular brand. I am aware of getting those scorch marks, we get them once in a while but but as soon as it happens, I rub Old English and it disappears. However about 3 weeks ago, we left our house to our sister in law and her family to house sit. When we got back, I almost threw a fit when I saw large ugly white scorch marks on my beautiful table. I am very upset, we left padded place mats for them to use and their excuse was that they didn’t want to ruin the place mats, the freakin’ $2 place mats from walmart against a $1500 table! They even placed a very hot box of pizza smack in the center. Ugh! It was heartbreaking. I cried the whole night. I tried the Old English trick again and again but sadly, it didn’t work. So I threw a tablecloth over my poor table. Then I stumbled this website and tried the tip you gave. I didn’t use the flat iron, but I tried applying heat by using a hair dryer set on high. At first I thought it wasn’t working but eventually I saw the white marks disappear. I guess more heat and directing the nozzle straight into the white spot helped a lot. I was so happy with the result, it didn’t matter if it took me almost 2 hours to get every single white mark out (there were many!). The flat iron would’ve made my work easier. My sister-in-law and her family still refuse to come over for fear that I’ll skin them alive but I’m so over their blunder. I now know what to do. Thank you very much.
i ironed my shirt on a towel on a nice wood table dining table last night and when i removed towel their were cloudy white marks where have been ironing.
what would be the best thing to get rid of the marks please help thanks
See my method just posted at the bottom of the page
I widsh I had know about this tip 20 years ago when I burnt a spot on my wood kitchen table, I could have fixed it before I gae it to my son. We had a hot dish on my oak dining room table yesterday, I looked up with Google search enging and found your site. Your steam iron tip worked like a charm. Thank you for your help. You are now in my “favorites” list.
I WAS TOTALLY AMAZED IT WORKED!!! JUST A COUPLE OF SECONDS WITH THE WHITE TOWEL AND I USED THE MOVING OF THE IRON AROND AND THE STAIN WAS GONE. I WAS ABLE TO SAVE MY CHERRY DINING ROOM TABLE. I WILL USE THIS METHOD AGAIN. THANKS SO MUCH.
Wow! It really worked! I’ve lived with several cloudy white marks on our Skovby teak dining table since just after buying it. it’s the paper plates with hot food. It just happened again, even with a heavy table cloth on the table. Today my courage was strong. I first tried the hovering technique. It left little dots from the steam vents in the iron so I covered the spot with an old thin turkish towel then set the iron down, slowly moving it in a circular motion, maybe for 15-20 seconds. I was shocked how the spots disappeared. A couple of years ago a furniture refinisher told me I would have to completely refinish the table top. Thank you, thank you, for the tip.
Thank you soooooo much! This saved my roommate’s table!
I had a lovely wooden table – and put a hot plate down and got an awful white mark – did the same again recently and was going to pay for a french polisher – found your website – and followed the ironing over a teatowel applied steam and Bingo – my table looks beautiful again, no ghastly white marks.
Best tip I have had – you are a star – a huge Thanks
Maria
10/11/11 – Worked for me as well! 12 year old Birch dinning room table with a semi-glossy dark cherry finish. Two 5-6 year old white heat spots on the table top. I used a pillowcase and an iron set on medium heat with lots of steam. First I tried the “hovering” technique with the iron and was getting some results but then I applied the iron right onto the pillowcase for about 15secs at a time, keeping the iron moving & steaming at all times then wiping away excess water in between each application until the stains were gone. Took about 5 or 6 times on each stain but they eventually vanished. I didn’t use any olive oil or polish just a dry cotton towel to dry/polish. My wife thinks I’m the greatest- again. =:^D
Great tip, TipNut! Thank you!
Pat
Just tried the steam hovering over a cloth on my yew coffee table, 5 seconds layer the stain was gone. Hard to believe but true. Thank you.
I have just tried it as well on my dinning table with a very large heat stain with pattterns. I used a tea towel and not a very hot iron first and when I switched on the steam the stain started to disappear.
It was magic. Thank you for your advise.
l have also tried it, dry white towel, iron on steam, now l have a water stain – HELP
See my post 2 below yours
Just tried it on several large white spots on my wood table – they are completely gone!
I used a white pillowcase folded in half, steam iron set on “cotton” (high) setting, and did not hover, but moved the iron around in a circular pattern for approx. 30 seconds over each spot while pressing the steam button several times.
The hot iron with steam on a towel takes practice. If you leave the hot water from the towel (really what you are doing is making a hot damp towel to fix the table) on the table for too long you will make a bigger white mark. Not to worry you can fix it .
The right way to do it is to tune the amount of steam to how thick your towel is. It is better to use a thicker rather than thinner towel. The thicker the towel the more pumps of steam you will need, but it will also give you a broader and more homogenous result. A thinner towel will only fix the small area where the steam jets are. I got best results with a white dish towel folded up twice so 4x thickness.
So for each thickness you use, use that many pumps of steam max. So for the 4x thickness use 2-4 pumps of steam, then swipe the towel off the area quickly. What you are doing is swiping a hot damp towel over the area, that is how you fix the table. Once you get it as good as you can (which using my method, almost unnoticable) finish by rubbing in a few drops of olive oil and it will look good as new.
This method was done on a modern light colored wood table, I think the wood is particleboard with veneer. And whatever the modern cheap clearcoat is.
Thank you so much for this article!!!!!
I thought I had ruined my mom’s table forever!!! phewwww I was gonna be in so much trouble, all for placing a mug of hot water to dip some Halloween fangs in. THANK YOU!
OMG….Thank you so much!!! It worked wonders!! The mayo trick did absolutely NOTHING…but, this was awesome!! Thanks again, so very much!!