Water stains can be an eyesore on your wooden furniture and floors. Whether you have splashed some water onto your wooden cupboard or spilt some coffee onto your coffee table, it is important that you use proper cleaning methods to remove these stains.
In case you aren’t sure where to begin, we’ve highlighted seven tips to help you remove water stains from wood.
Clean stains immediately.
If the spillage is still fresh, blot away as much as possible and clean it up fast to prevent the moisture from seeping into the wood. The longer the moisture stays on wood, the harder it is to clean up the stains that remain afterwards.
Rub the area with an oily furniture polish, mayonnaise, or petroleum jelly.
You can rub any of these ingredients above onto the water stain and leave it overnight before cleaning it up the next day. This will get rid of most of the water stain because the watermarks will be replaced by the oil content within these products. However, if the stains persist, you can try more of the below methods.
Try toothpaste and baking soda.
Mix about ¼ teaspoon of baking soda and toothpaste together and rub this mix onto the water stain with some pressure. If the stained area is large, you can mix about ½ teaspoon of each ingredient.
This mix is also suitable for various other cleaning uses, partly due to the mild abrasive contained in the toothpaste.
Moisten a soft rag with mineral spirits.
Dip one of your old unwanted shirts into a mild solvent – this can be a mineral spirit or an odourless paint thinner.
Wipe the underside of the furniture to ensure that this solvent will not dissolve the finish layer of your furniture first. If you don’t see any discolouration after the test wipe, you can proceed to wipe the remaining water stains with it.
Mix equal parts vinegar and olive oil.
This mix can be applied with a soft cloth along the directions of the wood grains of your furniture. Most of the white marks caused by wet glasses will be removed this way, and you can shine your furniture up by wiping it with another cloth afterwards.
Make a paste with salt and a few drops of water.
Some water stains can be removed simply by mixing a teaspoon of salt with several drops of water and applying this thick paste onto the water stains.
Gently rub the water stain with a soft cloth or sponge in a circular motion until the stain goes away completely. You can also opt to polish the wood to restore its initial lustre.
Wipe and buff.
When you are done cleaning the water stains, you can apply a thin layer of paste wax to your wooden furniture and give it a long-lasting extra protection layer.
When this thin paste layer has dried, buff the wax layer by rubbing it in a gentle, circular motion with a soft, clean cloth. This process will give a lustrous shine to your furniture and floors!
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