Use a Coaster, Removing Water Marks on Vintage Furniture

Use a Coaster, Removing Water Marks on Vintage Furniture

Welcome back friends, as the title suggests today I’m going to be refinishing furniture just enough to get rid of some unsightly water stains.  You don’t always have to strip an entire piece of furniture to get a great result.  Nor do you always  have to paint over a beautiful piece of wood furniture.

Don’t get me wrong, I have painted over my fair share of furniture but for all you wood lovers out there this post is for you.

I’m starting with a non-thrift store piece of furniture.  These water marks are from my own family room, on my own (dated) entertainment center and these two rings will be my easiest fix.

Before you yell at the kids, try this easy fix.  Spread a generous layer of mayonnaise over top of your water stains and let sit a half hour to 45 minutes.  Let the oils from the mayonnaise soak into the wood.

After sitting wipe off the mayo. The oils have refreshed the wood.  If you look closely you can still see a slight ring on the upper right but that would not be enough for me to refinish the entire entertainment center.

Another method that I’ve tried with varying results to remove white water rings is to use an iron.  Make sure all the water is out of the iron and steam setting is off.  Turn iron on to low, or medium low.  Place a clean dry cotton towel over the stain.  Press the iron on the cloth and iron for a few seconds moving the iron constantly.  Lift the cloth often checking your results.  Repeat if necessary until stain is gone.

Now that you’ve tried the mayo or iron trick, I have 3 more projects for you today, all with water stains or marks  that can’t just be polished (or mayoed) away.  All 3 of the following antique or vintage pieces were found at thrift stores and all were passed up because their water marks were a little too much to overlook.  It couldn’t have been the price because I got a good deal on all 3.

First up, I have this old sewing machine cabinet.  With those legs, and those handles it could be nothing other than Mid Century Modern.  Without a sewing machine, this piece could easily be converted to a desk or entry table.  It was about $10, after a discount.

The top shows why nobody brought him home.  Lots of scratches and watermarks.

The cabinet does open with 2 fold outs revealing a larger work surface and storage.

But even the inside had plenty of water stains, blemishes and scratches.

A few too many for just a good helping of mayonnaise.

180 grit sandpaper removed all the old varnish and scratches on the surface areas.  I did not refinish the sides or the back.  The existing varnish there was in excellent condition.

If your old varnish is flaking or peeling then you would have to remove all of it.  A new coat of varnish or oil will not hide a flaky layer.

Once all the surfaces that you want to refinish have been sanded down and all dust removed, put a drop of water on the sanded wood to see what the finish will look like with a clear varnish or oil.  If that color matches your existing finish then you can proceed with the clear finish.  If it needs to be darker, you may need to apply a stain before the final finish.  Mine was pretty darn close.

This is the top with 2 coats of Watco Danish oil in a natural finish.

This is the inside of the fold out top, also with 2 coats of the Danish oil.

The brass finish on the lowest parts of all the feet had been worn down to bare metal.  I buffed the brass with fine steel wool then used Rub-n-buff to reapply a “brass” finish.

This is the back of the cabinet.  A couple of scratches but no water marks or stains so no need to strip the existing varnish or sand.  On the left is the before, on the right is the after, after applying one coat of natural  Watco Danish oil.   Also added one coat of the Danish oil to all the remaining areas that weren’t sanded down to bare wood, the legs, the front and the sides.

Project 2, a cute little carved side table, also probably mid century.

He also had a couple of round water marks but what mostly stood out is this big old white stain.  I think this table was about $7.

The stain didn’t particularly look like a water mark but I tried the mayonnaise method first,  couldn’t hurt.

Mayo did nothing for this stain, I’m assuming it’s a heat mark.

Out came the sander once again.  I am not taking any of the finish off of the carved border or the spindle legs.  There was nothing wrong with the existing varnish and not doing so makes this refinishing job so much easier.

Once the top flat area was sanded, I wiped off all the sanding grit and dust with a lint free cloth.  I also used a brush and a vacuum to remove the dust from all the crevices in the border.

Once again I’m using the Watco Danish oil, this time in a black walnut finish.  Wipe on with a soft cloth and let dry.  Reapply a second coat.

For the border, I used the same cloth and oil and cotton swabs to get into all the nooks and crannies.

Look how beautiful this carved wood top is now.

Repeat the cotton swab oil wherever is needed.

Last project, another vintage thrift store find, a solid wood dough box.  Probably would have been used to hold sewing or knitting and would have had double duty  as a side table.

Inside was in fantastic shape.

But once again, the top had lots of scratches and watermarks.

Like the sewing machine cabinet, these surface scratches will disappear with a coat of the danish oil.

Back to the sander.  Are you noticing a pattern yet? If you can get away with just refinishing the top do it.  Spindles are absolutely one of the hardest things to refinish and take the most time.  If they are in great shape, leave them be.

For easier sanding, remove all your hardware first.

Like the sewing machine cabinet, no stain was necessary to have the top of the dough box match the sides.

After one coat of the oil the dough box is practically good as new.

After 2 coats of oil and a good cleaning of the hinges, this dough box is ready for his next life.

Ready to continue his life to the next century.

Use a coaster  :), and until next time, stay inspired.