Wood Table Heat Marks

[tamborine]

how are they removed

[Answerprancer]

If by that you mean actual scorches/burns, I would advise sanding/re-finishing.

[The Builder]

It rather depends on the severity of the marking, Tambo. What's the finish on the table? French polish/varnish/wax etc?

[tamborine]

the varnish has cloud marks

[wendilla]

You didn't say what caused it but couple of years ago my son spilt hot gravy on the tablecloth but it marked the table.We just used kitchen roll to soak it up never thinking it would mark the table. I read to put wet dishtowel on it and use medium hot iron and it took the mark out.

[The Builder]

I had an idea it was the cloudy varnish :o(
I'd like to see if there are any simple household remedies. I guess it would be easier for me to scrape the varnish off completely with a cabinet scraper, and re-finish it.
A cabinet scraper can even be a wood-plane blade. Any straight blade in fact, which is pulled towards you to take the layers of varnish off.
A perfect job, but some hard work though :o(

[daisya]

You can use a little white toothpaste gently rubbed in then cleaned off. Cigarette ash too or my mother used to use duraglit silver cleaner but of course don,t use all three at the same time. Always rub in direction of grain..hope you manage to find something to help.

[Clanad]

Take your pick:

Mix 50/50 toothpaste and baking soda, rub in. Do not use gel toothpaste for this.
Rub in a paste of salt and olive oil, allow to sit for up to an hour. Wipe off.
Rub in Miracle Whip (Mayonnaise) and wipe off after an hour.
Mix 50/50 vinegar and olive oil and rub into the watermark.
Try straight toothpaste (non-gel). Rub in with the grain then wipe off.
Make a paste with baking soda and a few drops of water. Rub in then wipe off. You can also try salt instead of baking soda.
Rub some Vaseline (or other petroleum jelly) into the watermark and leave overnight. Wipe off in the morning.

Or, our all time favorite... a simple steam clothes iron, a clean white dish towel (dry)... set the towel on the mark, use medium high heat on iron and move in slow circular motion on towel after steam has started coming out of iron. You may have to do this two or three times to be effective...

[factor-fiction]

One solution that worked for us once was to use a reasonably matching brown wax crayon- keep crayoning over the marks and polishing. It probably depends on how bad the mark is though

[cupotee]

I've not read all this thread but just in case its not been mentioned....my Dad used to work for a removal company and learnt a few tricks to cover marks as you describe and scratches

Try a little Brasso gently rubbing it in a circular movement then buffing with a clean cloth should help the cloudy marks.

For light scratches a Brazil nut [they are very oily] could be gently rubbed over the scratch. I know he did this a few times at home and it seemed to work.

[Hopkirk]

If you try cupotee's trick with the Brazil nut, don't forget to eat the chocolate off it first.