Wet towel left on Wood table..help?

Question

Hi I just left a wet towel of a dining room table, and there are now white spots I can't get off, and the finish is dull there..what can I do?

Answer 1

Let it dry out. Use a hair dryer if you have to. You can try getting the white spot my putting some Mayo on it over night. Clean it off with a cloth lightly dampened with denatured alcohol. By now if the white mark isn't gone your going to have to sand it out and refinish. If it looks ok then sand the top lightly with some really fine sandpaper (320-400 grit) to smoth the raised grain from the water and put some wipe on polly or paste wax over the spot then do another coat over the whole table.

Answer 2

You know, this has to be one of the most common questions asked about hardwood tables.....

Use a hair dryer...

Set it to low heat, and gently move it back and forth across the blemish. Do NOT let the hair dryer blow directly on any one spot too long, because it will soften the finish. But, if you keep it moving, it will evaporate the moisture that is trapped in the finish, without harming the table, or the finish.

Ive done this many times, as a professional wood worker, to repair blemishes, to prevent an owner from destroying a perfectly good finish, because someone told them they had to 'refinish' the table.

What has happened - when you left the wet towel on the table, the moisture from the towel, was absorbed into the finish. The same thing often happens when a hot pan, or cold glass is left on the bare surface. Applying gentle heat to the finish will help remove the moisture.

Have Fun

Answer 3

It was a laquer finish instead of a polyeurothane finish. You'll have to refinish the table because the water went through the laquer and raised the grain of the wood. There will always be some sort of mark there unless you refinish.

Answer 4

dreamsofamous was on the mark...however, try rubbing the finish with a clean rag and laquer retarder. You can find it at most home improvement stores or paint specialty retailers. The symptom reveals your problem. Like dream said, your laquer finish has failed and needs to be redone. This phenomenon is called "blushing" here in the SW...quite common while spraying laquer in 70% plus humidity!

What happened to your table? Moisture got behind the laquer finish. You can wait for a week (or a month) and see...but your finish has failed to do its job.

Answer 5

let it dry, the white spots is the polish buildup on the table that got good and wet, when it drys it will be just as it was before it got wet.

Answer 6

I told those damned keebler elves to pick up after themselves.Sorry man.

Answer 7

Try rubbing beeswax on it.

Answer 8

I am not completely sure about this