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.

[jameswilksey]

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

[teresabourbouli]

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!!!

[lindsaytaylor]

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

[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!

[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!

[robras]

One more comment...Every other video on YouTube 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.

[perrimcc]

I tripped on puppy and put hot mug on sideboard thanks to you I was able to get rid of the white ring from mug and white from splashes in about 10mins with hand sanitiser, I’m delighted, thank you so much 😁👏

[megwatts]

I had to steam a guitar neck off an acoustic for a neck reset. It was stubborn so I spent more time on the area than I would have liked. Result: finish blush. I tried a whole bunch of guitar repair channels to no avail and then stumbled upon yours. Method 2 worked like a charm. I've done some French polishing in the past so I had the "feel" for the tampon. Giggity. Thanks so much for the clear explanation and the technique. Cheers!

[elenaperales]

In 2020... totally worth my hand sanitizer!!! My beautiful home office desk ruined by a steamed veggie bowl. Fixed in 5 minutes! Thank You Thank You

[juliancoulden]

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

[DebS-sp]

Large white ring on my 1880 oak cabinet with hutch. The hand sanitizer on shop cloth worked beautifully with a tiny haze left that I “airplaned" out with the cloth dampened with hand sanitizer. Thanks very much.

[frankcarter]

The process worked perfectly on the top of an antique dresser. It took six minutes, in one minute intervals. I am thrilled to have that white mark gone.

[tomwells]

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!

[edyalderson]

This totally worked! Thank you so much. My husband left a cup of boiling water on the coffee table playing with his steam engine and there was a huge white ring. In the end I needed to soak a swab in alcohol and sit it on top with a glass over, more extreme than you recommended. It was a pretty modern table, only made in the last 20years, not an antique, but this harsher method worked so well. Thank you!

[davidchristensen]

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

[finemc]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Worked on a new water mark and on an old one. Using the timer is critical as you say. I did 4 minutes at a time and 1 to 4 times did the trick. I placed a glass upside down over the paper towel to help concentrate the alcohol.

[aaronaldrich]

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and I heated up a plate of leftovers. I sat down my table and enjoyed my meal only to find out that my hot plate left a white heat stain on my table!
I just fixed my table with hand sanitizer and a paper towel! So thankful for this video!!

[fludderkiddie]

Oh my God… Thank you for this…
My sons goldfish had to be relocated temporarily for the holiday season and he was placed upon one of my Hitchcock tables. His little filter got moved around and started spewing water all over the table so it was just covered in white (goldfish was fine)
I literally just dumped some alcohol on a towel, white the white spots down with the alcohol with a plugged in hairdryer at the ready, and the moment the white disappeared (which was IMMEDIATELY) I rubbed it down with wood milk. Coming from the town in NW CT that is the home of the original Hitchcock chair furniture company-My family owns a ton of antique furniture, especially Hitchcock furniture. I can’t believe I am 41 years old and I am just learning this now but thank you. This was a lifesaver

[michaelmanning]

Amazing that you took your mentors advice and enhanced it. That shows you know your craft as an expert!