messed up kitchen table

And moisture.

Gentle prolonged heat might encourage the moisture in the white area to migrate away. Keep the finish at a very low temperature (maybe 120 F) to avoid damage. Time is your friend, don't rush it. A hair dryer kept well away from the top might be good source of warrnth.

Joe

Joe

Many times using a soft cloth and toothpaste will remove the spots. Toothpaste has a very fine abrasive in it and won't ruin the finish.

Relax and wait a few days before trying anything, it has to dry.

The classic repair for water spots on wood is mayonnaise. Put a small dab on a soft cloth and gently rub the white ring. It may or not work, but worth a try. Buy your wife a cooling rack and a few trivets.

Here are 8 million + ways. I'd start at the top and work down...

Is the WOOD oak? I've seen a number of "cures" for the problem, but none that work. Another I recall seeing is to rub cigarette ashes into the whitened area, but it did not work for me. The finish has whitened, not the wood....I would take very fine steel wool and test by rubbing onto a small part of the whitened area to try to remove that much finish. You might also remove stain if it is a lacquer finish, so there are no sure ways to undo the damage. If the white disappears, you can try patching the finish then with a similar gloss clear finish. If it is a valuable piece, have an expert look at it. If not valuable, refinish by sanding the top lightly and put on a clear finish....I've never seen a spot repair on wood that was satisfactory.

On 8/19/2009 8:41 AM ransley spake thus:

Hard to believe, but that's actually the best advice in this thread so far.

So far as using abrasives of various types as people have suggested, bad idea. The last thing you want to do is damage the finish more, or, worse yet, remove it down to the wood. The idea of using heat is probably a good one (after waiting for things to settle down).

Coat with mayonnaise. Should be fine in a day.