It may have been a collision or perhaps you’re intentionally ignoring your own better judgment when you place that hot dish right on the dining table. But fortune may smile, and you may have the ability to remove the burn mark with only a little effort. If the timber is discolored, however, sanding off the bleaching and finish it is your very best chance for making it go away. If there’s only 1 mark, you should be able to do a spot repair. If there are several, refinish the camel.

Examine the finish to learn what type it is. Most dining room tables have a lacquer finish, but yours may be polyurethane, which requires a different strategy. Dab an inconspicuous place on a leg or bottom of the table using a cotton swab soaked in lacquer thinner and touch the end while it’s still wet. If it’s sticky, it is lacquer. Otherwise, it is polyurethane or varnish.

Remove white heat marks from a lacquer finish using a glue made with nongel toothpaste and baking soda. Rub the paste in the finish gently, then rub off the excess with a dry cloth and check your progress. If the rings are still there, rub again.

Apply lemon juice along with cigarette ash to get rid of white heat marks from a polyurethane finish. Stir both ingredients into a paste and rub on the glue with 0000 steel wool. Because the citric acid in lemon juice is corrosive, this technique may also remove dark surface stains from the timber too.

Sand off the end to bleach out dark spots in the wood. Use 150-grit sandpaper, and sand with the grain of the timber. Stop sanding as soon as the timber is exposed.

Mix a saturated solution of oxalic acid crystals, available at hardware stores, and water and dab the solution onto the stain using a cotton swab. Let it soak in for 20 or 30 minutes, then rub it off. Employ more bleach when the stain is still there. Neutralize the wood by dabbing a solution of 1 teaspoon of baking soda to 1/2 cup of water, then dab with clear water.

Implement 2-part peroxide bleach if the stain doesn’t come out. Mix the parts together in a little container and instantly dab the mixture onto the stain. Allow it to dry, then neutralize it by dabbing on vinegar. Allow the vinegar dry, then dab with clean water.

Sand the area with 220-grit sandpaper, then repair the finish using a spray can of lacquer or polyurethane. If it’s lacquer, spray a light coat, let it dry, then sand it using 400-grit seams and then spray another coat. Repeat this procedure many times. If the end is polyurethane, then two coats should be enough.

Polish the stick with furniture polish after the repair is complete.

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