How to Remove White Rings & Haze From Finishes and Furniture

Learn how to make those annoying white rings and water hazes disappear from your fine furniture.
Joshua explains that the white haze is actually moisture that is trapped in the finish. He demonstrates on an old board that has finish that has deteriorated.
The finish is soluble in ethanol, which can be determined with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol, which indicates that is likely shellac.
To repair the white ring, we have to re-saturate the finish with alcohol. This will allow the moisture to escape and repair the damaged finish.
The trick is to not over saturate the surface with alcohol. This is best achieved through alcohol vapor. Joshua demonstrates several ways to introduce alcohol vapor to the damaged area.
Joshua Klein is a furniture conservator/maker and is the founder of Mortise & Tenon Magazine.
For more from Josh, check out www.shopwoodworking.com/10-ess...

[@meaningfulquotes]

What actually worked best for me was rubbing the inside of a cup with the hand sanitizer and placing it upside down on the table. No drips and the fume chamber worked even better than the paper towel!

[@chelseacohen9218]

watching this in 2020 questioning whether a water ring is worth my precious hand sanitizer lol

[@teresabourbouli7647]

I had an awful huge white water/heat stain on my beautiful dining table and was really desperate. I looked it up on youtube and found your video. Applied immediately two of your methods , the alcohol dampened pad first . it removed most of the stain but a white milky shadow persisted so I tried the alcohol dampened paper towel in a glass . It removed the rest of the stain. I have never commented to any video so far but I felt the need to thank you this time . The stain is completely gone. No damage to the table finish visible. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

[@lindsaytaylor2967]

I cannot believe this worked thank you handsome wood man you saved my life

[@codetwohigh]

Iron and a tshirt. You’re welcome…

[@jameswilksey]

Ignore the clickbait videos and listen to workshop professionals like this guy. Love reading the comments too. Good luck to you.

[@ianmceuen]

You saved me from a potential major fight with my wife. Hand sanitizer worked like a charm!

[@jazzy2k1293]

I'm trying to pay attention about the stain removal process however I'm all into how cute this guy is!! My mom is gonna kick my ass for this stain on this coffee table lol help!!

[@robras8805]

One more comment...Every other video on KZbin uses irons or heat guns. Thank goodness I found this video. I had a white mark that was so big. I don't want to overstate how incredible this method is...but WOW. Brilliant.

[@billdakelski]

Good info for refinishing a alcohol based finnish. However, you mentioned that the furniture could be a different finish (e.g. water based urathane, pure tung oil, mineral oil, wax etc.) but did not address any of those is the procedure the same? and how do you know which a particular wood is coated with?

[@juliancoulden1753]

Very helpful and so well presented. Articulate and sensitive to your subject! A pleasure to watch!

[@wdavidson4761]

I love your presentation and love of subject , and desire to help others. When you said “vapor chamber” I smiled as I slowly got it about solvent compatibility ! Your technique worked beautifully on several embedded white haze on a shellac finish. Thank you kind and noble sir !

[@AuntNolee]

My mother passed away in July and I inherited her antique dining table (a beautiful, colonial dining table). I ate at this table as a child and I served her meals at this table for years in her later years. It has great sentimental value to me. A friend who was visiting from out of town sat a hot entree on the table and I didn't notice until after she'd left. I thought the finish was ruined. Your calm and thoughtful presentation was so reassuring. I used the vapor method and it worked! Thank you so, so much!

[@truckstopmedia]

Dude this video literally just saved my life. I thought I'd destroyed a friend's dresser with a hot cup of tea. A variation of your hand-sanitizer trick worked like a charm - it looks better than it did before I set my cup down now. Can't thank you enough!

[@lawrencehincker8652]

A veritable chemistry lesson. Very informative and useful. You have good delivery making the technique understandable.

[@sandrajean8765]

I'm so grateful to have found this post! The hand sanitizer on a paper towel trick absolutely worked to remove a large cloudy stain on my mahogany veneer table top. Thank you!!!!

[@davidchristensen2153]

The hand sanitizer method worked like magic! And your explanations are beautifully clear and sensible. Thank you very much!

[@jeremybokor6845]

So glad I found this. The hand sanitizer method worked 100% to remove a light haze from my wood coffee table. Followed the instructions to the tee. Thanks for posting!

[@tomwells3108]

I have to thank you for doing this video! I was visiting my dad and put a cup of coffee that I was drinking on top of a folded up paper towel on top of a desk. It was furniture that was my grandfathers. When I lifted up my cup and paper towel. There were two great big white rings on the top of the desk. The finish on the desk is actually flawless. Your video totally worked with the hand sanitizer!

[@alexmcwalters4293]

A big thanks for your help. We accidentally spilt hot green tea on our oak breakfast table this morning, leaving a large white bloom on the surface. Was considering using the hot iron and tea towel method but didn't like the idea of introducing a hot iron to the table surface. Just used the kitchen towel and hand sanitiser method. 4 x 1 minute placing of the kitchen towel and sanitiser, has removed all signs of the white bloom. Never commented on anything online before but we are so happy with the results, just had to say a big thank you. All the best. Alex... England.