You’re cleaning up after a dinner party and notice some fresh, white heat stains on your dining room table—what can you do to remove them? Heat stains form when hot objects, like a casserole dish, cause the wood’s pores to expand and trap moisture and other debris. Thankfully, there are a variety of remedies to treat heat stains that don’t involve hauling your table to a stain removal expert. That’s why we’ve put together a handy list of ways to remove heat stains from wood using common household materials. If you’re ready to make your wood furniture look good as new, keep reading!

Things You Should Know

  • Use heat from a hair dryer or an iron to reopen the wood’s pores and evaporate the moisture that caused the stain.
  • Apply oily products like mayonnaise, petroleum jelly, or olive oil with a cloth or fine-grade steel wool to penetrate the wood and lift the stain.
  • Sand away the stain and refinish the wood as a last resort. When in doubt, take your heat stained wood to a professional to avoid accidental damage.
2

Iron the stain out.

3

Apply toothpaste and baking soda.

  1. Mix white, non-gel toothpaste with baking soda and rub it over the stain. Use your fingers to apply the mixture in the same direction as the grain of the wood. Rub gently and let the mixture sit for a few minutes, then wipe it away with a clean cloth. Wipe again with a damp cloth and check to see if the stain is gone.[3]
    • Repeat this process until the stain is completely lifted out of the wood. Once it’s gone, wipe the table dry with a clean cloth.
    • Make sure to use non-gel toothpaste since it’s the least abrasive type. Look for the simplest toothpaste with the fewest ingredients you can find.
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4

Rub the stain with mayonnaise or petroleum jelly.

  1. Oily substances like mayo can penetrate the wood and absorb the stain. Add a thick dab of mayo or petroleum jelly to a clean cloth and rub it into the stain in a circular motion. Cover the entire stain (add another dab if needed) and let it sit for at least a few minutes. Wipe the mayo or jelly away with a clean cloth to check the stain.[4]
    • Once the stain is gone, wipe down the table with a damp cloth to remove excess mayo or jelly.
    • For old, stubborn stains, let the mayo or jelly sit for several hours (or even overnight if needed).
    • Repeat this process until the stain is fully gone.
5

Scrub the stain with fine-grade steel wool and olive oil.

  1. Soak the steel wool in oil before rubbing it on your wood finish. Scrub gently back and forth along the grain of the wood, pausing every minute or so to check if the stain is lifting.[5] Remove excess oil with a clean cloth and repeat until the stain is gone.[6]
    • Try mixing your oil with a few drops of liquid dish soap for a stronger clean.
    • Rub with a light touch to avoid damaging the finish of the wood. If you notice little scratches, buff out the spot afterward to restore the finish.[7]
    • Alternatively, try vegetable or lemon oil.
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6

Scour the stain with equal parts white vinegar and oil.

  1. Mix the vinegar and oil in a bowl and soak a clean cloth in the solution. Rub the stain vigorously until it’s gone, then wipe the mixture away with a different clean cloth. Use any oil you have available—olive, lemon, vegetable, or mineral oil are all effective at lifting wood stains.[8]
    • Repeat as much as needed to remove the stain fully.
    • A combination of vinegar and oil is thicker and more effective than plain vinegar by itself (although it is possible to lift the stain without oil).[9]
    • Keep distilled, white vinegar handy in your cleaning supplies cabinet—it’s useful for removing a variety of stains from lots of different surfaces!
9

Sand the stain away.

  1. As a last resort, remove the stained finish with fine-grit sandpaper. Use 220-grit paper or higher and rub in the direction of the grain of the wood.[12] This works best on wood with multiple layers of varnish since you can add a new layer afterward.[13] Wipe the area with a damp cloth and let it dry after the stain is gone.[14]
    • Sand very lightly to remove as little of the wood or finish as possible. Most tabletop veneers are only about 1/40 in (0.6 mm) thick.[15]
    • Try a cabinet scraper instead of sandpaper. It won’t get plugged up with dust like sandpaper will, so it may save some time and money.[16]
    • Evaluate the wood after the stain is gone. You may need to buff out sand marks or apply a new layer of varnish or finish to restore the area.
    • Sandpaper or scrapers give you more finesse and control over how much you remove than a chemical remover does.
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Warnings

  • Check for wood damage every minute or 2 while you treat the stain, regardless of which method you choose. Too much heat or abrasion can damage your wood even more than the original heat stain.[19]
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About This Article

Dan Hickey
Co-authored by:
wikiHow Staff Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Dan Hickey. Dan Hickey is a Writer and Humorist based in Chicago, Illinois. He has published pieces on a variety of online satire sites and has been a member of the wikiHow team since 2022. A former teaching artist at a community music school, Dan enjoys helping people learn new skills they never thought they could master. He graduated with a BM in Clarinet Performance from DePauw University in 2015 and an MM from DePaul University in 2017. This article has been viewed 10,280 times.
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Co-authors: 2
Updated: March 27, 2023
Views: 10,280
Categories: Stain Removal
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