Wooden furniture is susceptible to different kinds of damage, but there are easy fixes available to restore the furniture. Before you throw out that wooden furniture that looks old due to stains and discoloration, consider the repair options below.
These tips are easy to carry out as DIY projects.
Removing Discoloration and Stains from the Surface of Wooden Furniture
- Removing White Spots
Wooden furniture with lacquer and shellac finishes is not resistant to alcohol and water, so condensation from glasses and spills leaves rings or white spots on the surface. You can remove the spots by polishing the surface with liquid furniture polish and then buffing firmly. If the stain remains, wipe the surface using denatured alcohol. Ensure you use a small amount of alcohol.
If polishing and alcohol treatment cannot remove the white spots, treat the spot with a gentle abrasive from any home-supply store. You may need several applications of the abrasive to remove stubborn stains.
- Black Spots
These spots are difficult to remove without damaging the finish. In most cases, removing the finish from the affected surface is best.
When you remove the finish, bleach the stained area of the furniture with oxalic acid solution and refinish.
- Ink Stains
If the ink stain penetrates the finish, you will have to remove the finish to clean the stain, but light buffing using a damp cloth and mineral spirit can remove mild ink stains. After buffing, rinse the wood with clean water using a soft cloth, then wax and polish. If the treatment damages the finish, refinish the damaged area.
- Blushing
Blushing is a white haze on a large surface or an entire piece of furniture. It usually affects lacquer and shellac finishing due to moisture. You can use the same method for removing white spots or lightly buff the surface with steel wool in linseed oil.
Rub the wool on the entire wood surface until the white haze comes off, then clean the wood with a soft cloth, wax and buff the surface to make it shine.
You can also remove blushing with reamalgamation. Reamalgamation is best suited for alligatored or crazed wooden surfaces. Refinishing the surface is advisable if steel-wool rubbing and reamalgamation cannot remove the haze.
- Tar, Lipstick, Grease, Crayon, and Paint Spots
These stains do not penetrate the wooden surface finishes, so they are easy to remove. For wet paint, use a suitable solvent like water for latex paint or mineral spirits for oil-based paint on a soft cloth.
For dry paint, carefully remove the residue on the furniture surface using the edge of a putty knife but do not scrape the wood. After removing the stain, lightly buff the affected area with steel wool in mineral spirit, then wax and polish the wood surface.