How to get hazy milky marks out of antique table's wax finish?

Question

My dining room table is a round oak parlor table - with a hand rubbed wax finish...

A few times, a hot plate was put directly on the table without a placemat and left a milky mark in the wax finish .... (damn kids - you tell them a thousand times and no one listens - haha)

Anyway - how do I rub out this white ring? Do I use solvents / paste wax? Please advise .... thanks!!

Answer 1

You will need to strip off the current wax finish and redo it. What you are seeing is moisture from the wood in the table that has been drawn by the heat from the hot plate up into the wax. You MAY be able to use fine steel wool (not the soap pad type) and just do the area damaged and then reapply wax. Good luck.