Expert: maura macaluso - 10/16/2007

Question
Hello I have dining table? not sure it is Mahgony or Maple?
It is very nice finishing table -- few scratches due to not used any cover protecter-- need to fix later..
But lately I was using as Iron board.. I have infant-- so not make her harmful I iron my clothes on this and caused some white stains.. I had spray on clothes and Iron and saw stains afterwards on table ,, so disappointed.. not want to do it again? but how to get rid of or recover this table? do you have any idea?

Answer
mahogany- reddish-brown to brownish black,  Maple- creamy white to whitish yellow(this holds true as long as there was no stain applied) However age will darken any woods making it difficult to tell.

Ironing on table causing white stains. Okay, both heat and water will cause the stain you mention.  The good news is that the problem has only creeped into the finish and not the wood itself. a darker stain would indicate the wood was affected.  The cure is to rough up the surface using fine steel wool or fine sand paper.  get some linseed oil, available at most hardware and art/craft stores.  Wipe the linseed oil lightly into the sanded area and let sit to allow to penetrate.  If this works, wipe off any excess oil and allow to sit a week or so to fully absorb the oil and dry.  You can then take some bees wax and apply it to the area you roughed up, rub it in and then apply more, leave sit a few hours. wipe off excess and buff it out to a nice shine and it shouldn't be noticable.  If this patch for some reason does not work, you will need to refinish the entire top.  Thanks for the question.