How to repair waters stains on cabinet? help!
by
Jane
+8
Posted a while back for ideas on how to clean a family MCM buffet. I am not a DIYer may I say but have started this project now!!! Used Howards Clean A finish to clean the wood and that helped. Now ready to use Howards Restore Finish to refinish in sorts the buffet. As you can see I have some water? stains that don't seem to get covered with the stain when I tested it out. Suggestions on how to proceed as I am now midway on this project!! promise to post completed project. thanks for all of your support and help !
This is the complete piece; primary damage on lowest shelf area. Thanks! must be crazy in my brain to be taking this on!!!
I think the best thing at this point would be sand off finish by hand and restain the top. Finish off with satin polyeureathane. Don't use an electric sander unless you are very gentle with it. Don't have to go totally down to raw wood and use fine grit paper.
In a small bowl, mix equal parts vinegar and olive oil. Apply the mixture to the water stain using a cloth. Wipe in the direction of the wood grain until the stain is gone. The vinegar will help remove the stain while the olive oil acts as a furniture polish
Kelli is right. A fresh surface to start with really is the best. Obviously the damage needs to be sanded away (gently) so you can refinish this piece.
Just be patient when sanding so you don't sand too much.
If you are at all concerned about the sealant yellowing go with a water based one.
Good luck!
You may have cleaned it with Howards Clean A Finish but that just took off all the dirt and grime. It did not remove any kind of poly like finish so trying to stain the water spots would not work as the stain has to be able to absorb into the wood. The stain will not go through a poly finish. The Howards Restore a Finish will probably not cover any water marks if there is still poly over the area where the watermarks are. It will hide scratches if the scratches have gone down to the wood. As far as I can tell from the picture you have 2 choices. You can sand to get rid of any poly finish and then try to stain your piece but it could get tricky because you have to make sure all the poly finish is gone. Another idea is to check out General Finishes gel stain because that would cover all the water stains with very little sanding. Just enough light sanding to dull the surface.You might be able to get a color that is fairly close to what you have. I really like this product for situations such as yours.
https://generalfinishes.com
While your Clean A Finish did work, it only did part of the job. That's why the watermark is still there. It really wasn't the correct product to do the job of resurfacing the wood. You WILL have to sand it down to the point that you can't see any difference between where the mark was and wasn't. Because I see marring and scratches, too, this means sanding the entire surface. As a non-DIYer you have two choices - use sandpaper by hand or buy an orbital sander and do the job in about 1/10th the time. Don't press down on the sander, let the sandpaper do the work. Start with a rough grit, 60, and once the surface looks good, move up to a 120 grit to smooth everything down. Not smooth enough? Then use 220 grit for a beautiful surface. Remember to wipe with a lightly damp cloth to remove all the dust before you do any restorative work. And, yes, seal it with a clearcoat finish once you're happy with the color.
The other option, depending on how you use this cabinet, is to simply cover the top with a cloth, runner or doilies and forget that the issue is there. This is only a cosmetic problem, not structural. Just sayin'.
Hi Jane, maybe you can try this out, hope this helps you out,
In a small bowl, mix equal parts vinegar and olive oil. Apply the mixture to the water stain using a cloth. Wipe in the direction of the wood grain until the stain is gone. The vinegar will help remove the stain while the olive oil acts as a furniture polish.
You can try mayonnaise first before doing anything else. Check out this post ...:
https://www.hometalk.com/diy/bedroom/furniture/refurbish-wood-furniture-without-sanding-or-stripping-40253059
Refurbish Wood Furniture Without Sanding or Stripping
This post might be helpful
https://www.hometalk.com/diy/repair/furniture/how-to-remove-a-water-stain-from-your-wood-furniture-in-5-minutes-39242413
HOW TO REMOVE A WATER STAIN FROM YOUR WOOD FURNITURE IN 5 MINUTES!
Yes to try the mayo trick. I have done this and it works. Other way is to Iron it out using an old towel. Google how to do this. I also have done this and it works.
Hi Jane. You could make a paste using salt and olive oil. Put this paste directly on the water stains and let it set for several hours. Then wipe it all up with a clean cloth. The salt will pull the stains out, and the olive oil will condition the wood. Good luck Jane. Stay healthy and well.
Olive oil can turn rancid. I would not use that. I would lightly sand out the water stains. I have successfully treated water stains with mayo. I used Minwax dark paste wax on my table, and buffed it off with a buffer. The table looks beautiful and has a hard finish.
Hi,
Use brown paper and a warm iron to draw out the moisture.