Expert: Eileen Cronk - 8/27/2006

Question
Hello,
We have oak wood trim and oak wood mullian's around our front entry door that appear to have small mildew spots forming. We attempted to remove the spots with "Murphy's Oil Soap" and all that happened  is we've seemed to wash out some of the original stain. The wood appears lighter in color, but the small spots are still noticable.
Is there a product that will remove these spots without removing more of the stain? Or should we be prepared to re-stain the wood after cleaning it?
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Robert Rogers

Answer
Hi Roger
Nice to hear from you.
Sounds to me like the wood needs re staining.
I would clean with mineral spirits and use steel wool dipped in the spirits as a scrubber.
Then restain.
You did not mention what the wood was finished with, but I would apply couple of coats of tung oil with a rag after the stain dries.
Also sounds like the oak was never sealed??? do you know?
Hope this helps
Regards
Eileen