Do you worry about your expensive furniture getting ruined during a party? After all, you cannot always cover it with a sheet or tablecloth because, let’s be honest, wooden furniture needs to be flaunted. But one issue with wood outdoor furniture or a wooden dining table is the stubborn marks on it. Probably one of the guests forgot to put the coaster under the glass, or condensation drops from a hot dish traveled to the table surface and formed a ring there. What to do to remove watermark in such cases?
Water spots on wood furniture are annoying, detrimental to the look, and break your heart. Since wood is a natural material with its finish and look, you cannot think about painting it repeatedly. Thankfully there are many ways to remove watermark from wooden furniture. Whether it’s an outdoor sofa with a wooden frame or an outdoor wooden bench that got stained during rain, there are more than one ways to solve your issue of how to remove watermark from furniture.
Read below for expert tips to save expensive home furniture from stubborn watermarks and stains.
How To Remove Watermark From Wooden Furniture?
Before finding the right approach to clear water stains from an expensive patio dining chair, assessing the type of stain you are dealing with is important. Most water stains are light-colored or appear as clouds on furniture, meaning moisture has gone and trapped into the wooden structure rather than sitting at the top.
To remove such stains, it is important to remove the entrapped moisture content so the furniture doesn’t lose its durability and the wooden content doesn’t swell up. Below are different methods to remove watermark from wood furniture.
Using Heat
This idea works best for people who start with cleaning up after the party ends. If you observe a water stain mark that is new and not too big, then heat is the simplest solution to try. As the mark is young, the moisture won’t be entrapped too deep within the wood. You can achieve this method with the help of an iron or a blow dryer. To heat with iron, place a cotton cloth over the watermark. Set the iron on a low heat setting and place it over the stain. To use a hair dryer, use the highest heat setting for only a few minutes over the stain to let heat do its action.
Using Oil
Oil works efficiently for a slightly older, 1-2 days older water stain mark. Mix vinegar and olive oil in equal parts and take a cotton ball. Dip the ball into the mixture and slowly wipe the surface with repeated action. Ensure not to be abrasive, as this can remove the wooden furniture’s paint finish or top coating.
Use Baking Soda
Baking soda is similar to vinegar when it comes to stains on wooden furniture. Mix two parts of baking soda with one part of water to make a runny paste. Rub the mixture on the stain with the help of a microfiber cloth or a cotton ball (make sure the fabric doesn’t have rough edges). With slow rubbing, the mark will begin to disappear, and you can coat the furniture with a bit of polish to seal the clean look.
Steel Wool
Steel wool is advised for more difficult watermarks or those with several locations. If you want to avoid scratching your table, ask the hardware shop for the best grade of steel wool. Utilize it to gently apply lemon extracts to the wood in the grain direction. Walk carefully and stay inside the stain’s lines to prevent further finishing damage.
Using Abrasive
It might be necessary to use a moderate abrasive to remove the moisture if the water stain is a few days old but still appears white and foggy, especially for a piece of furniture that has been out in the rain, such as a foldable lounge chair or a wooden outdoor table. Mix baking soda and white, non-gel toothpaste to form a paste. Use a delicate cloth or an old toothbrush to apply the mixture. Circularly massage the place gently till it vanishes. The finish on your furniture might be removed or scratched if you use too much force, so being careful is crucial here.
Using Mayonnaise
This might come as a surprising fix, but it always works. This is because mayonnaise has oil and eggs in it; both ingredients have the consistency to absorb moisture from a surface. Using mayonnaise not only entraps moisture and takes it away from wooden furniture, but it is also helpful in removing the cloudy texture from the surface of the wood. To work with this method, apply a dab of mayonnaise over the stain and let it sit for a few hours. Gently wipe it away to expose the cleaned surface.
Salt
You might have heard of a remedy for every type of stain; just salt it. Salt is a special solution to water stains on wood as it can absorb moisture naturally without harming the natural texture of the wood. The working mechanism of a salt is that it dehydrates the wood by trapping the condensation drops into it and taking it away from the wood.
Mix a few drops of water with the salt to create a thick paste. Apply the mixture to the stain without rubbing and leaving it there for 10 to 20 minutes. First, wipe the outside edges of the salt with a dry or moist cloth without applying pressure. Next, wipe any remaining residue with a fresh, damp cloth. Enjoy stain-free furniture all over again.
Conclusion
Water damage on wood doesn’t just ruin the appeal, but with time, the moisture entrapped can cause the wood to soften and rot and even develop fungi. Hence, it is important to address the type of water stain on wooden furniture as soon as possible to prevent it from being ruined permanently.
For more stubborn and deep stains, you might want to call in the furniture experts who can clean the furniture properly and catch the water content trapped inside the wood layers. We hope you have a fair idea on keeping your furniture safe, good luck and keep your spaces clean.
