White mark left in oak top

[Jeff Chumbley]

I have a lift top coffee table. A paper plate with hot food was left on it that also left a cloudy white mark after it. How does one go about repairing this damage? I am not sure of how the table was finished. If there are any questions or clues please let me know.

If need be I can produce pics

Thanks.

[Grant Wilkinson]

It really depends on the finish. You could try this somewhere that is hidden. If the finish is lacquer, all you need to do is to put a couple of drops of lacquer thinner in the middle of the ring. Don't sand, touch and otherwise disturb it. The thinner will soften the finish and allow the water vapour that is trapped under the surface to escape. Let it sit for a couple of days.

If it is shellac, you can do the same with alcohol.

Acetone will do the same with some other finishes.

The trick is to find a spot that is out of sight, and test to see which solvent dissolves the finish.

[Gail O'Rourke]

I have heard of mayonnaise working for this kind of thing. However, I haven't tried it.

I just googled the idea and several links came up - you may want to try.

[Andrew Williams]

It is also possible that the cloudy white mark is just the wax on the finish.

[Michael Panis]

I have a lift top coffee table. A paper plate with hot food was left on it that also left a cloudy white mark after it.....

I haven't tried this, but it was recommended to me:

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5207

Let us know what works!

[Lee Schierer]

What you have is moisture trapped under the finish. The hot plate caused the problem. You can easily fix this with a clothes iron and a linen towel. Place about 3-4 folds of linen towel over the foggy area. Make a pad at least as large as the base of the iron. Turn the iron to the linen setting and iron the towel. You want to get the surface good and hot without melting or burning the finish. Heat it a bit and then lift the towel and peak. If the white mark is gone you are done. If it still remains, heat it a bit more. Keep the iron moving around, hold the towel still while you iron it. Your fogged area shold be gone in just a few minutes. You can repeat the process if you need to.

Be sure in the future not to set glasses with cold liquid or hot plates on the table without a coaster under them.

Lee

[Jeff Chumbley]

Thanks to all I will try some of the suggestions and see if that fixes the problem and reply back.


Jeff

[Jeff Chumbley]

Well I looked at the list of probable solutions and tried Lee's idea first with the iron. I was amazed that that took care of the problem.

Thanks to all who gave solutions

Jeff