Expert: Kirk Ryan - 8/5/2008

Question
Like a dummy, I laid a wet shirt on our wood table to dry - when I woke up this morning, the shape of the shirt is in the wood, and wet - How can I fix this?

Answer
No no, your not a dummy. This is a common mistake that many, many people make. Luckily you seem to have caught it early. I have heard stories of people leaving for vacation, and when they came home, a plant leaked all over a table and was left for weeks. The minerals from plants do awful things to the wood.

Anyway, you have a few good options here. But it depends on what color your water mark is. If it is a white color, that usually means its all dried out, and you can start an oil repair. If it is dark, you may need to do a more serious repair here which will involve a professional.  

So if it is white, and dry - The first thing you want to do is find a conditioner/oil that will work specially for the type of wood that your table is. For example, if its a teak wood table, you should get teak oil. You want to apply a good amount of the oil to that water stain and treat it like your trying to get a stain out of clothing. Constantly dabbing it with dry un-oiled cloths.

If it is dark - Usually when the wood feels damp or has dark water damage, a few serious steps must be taken in order to repair the table. Usually, but not always, a professional will try to iron the area to really pull the water out. Then they will treat the wood if they can, or if worse, they may have to refinish the top.

I am hoping it is not too much damage you have, and hopefully you can just use the oil to get most of it out. You may have to do the oil quite a few times before you see improvement, and also you could try using "triple zero steel" wool in conjunction with the oil.

Remember, I hear about water stains and damage all the time, so your not the first. However, the wet shirt is a first for me. :-) Usually its wet rings from cups, pots, or plants.

Good luck, hope this helps.