Oak table

[Pee_wee]

I have a solid oak table which appears to have some marks on. It looks like food, possibly grease and I can't get it off. Does anyone on here know how I can remove this without damaging the table.

[rowanwitch]

If it is untreated wood you are pretty much stuck with it...try using a little lighter fuel on cotton wool to try and dissolve the grease....otherwise it will simply become part of the 'patina' natural wood furniture is supposed to get marked and battered it gives it character

[wiltshirewalker]

Lightly sanding it will do the trick.

[Pee_wee]

Thank you for answering. The table has not been treated with anything, it is reclaimed oak and in it's original state. It does have a few dents here and there which do add character, but the new mark (caused by a child!) looks awful. I'm very nervous about trying the lighter fluid but will give it a go. Are you sure this won't stain it further? Will try the sanding aswell.

[rowanwitch]

using a volatile liquid on cotton wool gives you very tight control over the area to be treated... sanding will leave a patch of lighter wood....however an appropriately coloured antiqueing wax could be used to blend the area back in

[tommytrot]

try a hot iron over a couple of sheet of absorbant kintchen towel or eve newspaper

[Pee_wee]

Thats great. Thank you very much.

[wiltshirewalker]

If it's reclaimed then you could lightly sand the whole top,to give it a uniform look.

[Pee_wee]

Ok. Thank you. I will try the lighter fluid on the small(ish) area first and if that doesn't work I will have to sand the whole thing. I appreciate your time. Many thanks.

[NazNomad]

Try it underneath the table first, if you'r worried about the result.

[NazNomad]

you're*

[Pee_wee]

Brilliant idea!

[smurfchops]

Pee Wee I have an old oak kitchen table which gets lots of grease marks on it even though I use large plate mats. I use Cillit Bang Power Cleaner Grease & Floor. Put on a small amount on the mark with a kitchen sponge, rub it in hard, leave for no more than half a minute, wash off with fresh hot water on a cloth, and dry off as mu8ch as you can with a dry cloth. When it is dry the grease mark is usually gone. After a while this process might lighten the 'colour' of the oak if you keep rubbing in the same place, so I spray a thin film of furniture polish on and rub it all over. It looks like new (until the next greasy meal) .... sanding will be very messy.