Introduction

Whether it's grass, grease or water stains, there always seems to be something in my house that needs removing. This is especially true of my wood furniture, which bears the burden of forgotten coasters, stray permanent marker or some unnamed substance.

Here, I'll show you five methods to remove these stains in an attempt to avoid stripping and refinishing.

This is an inexpensive, beginner-friendly project. If you try all of these methods, it will cost you around $30, or around $60 if you don't own an iron. Most of these methods take only a few minutes, and together should take less than 30 minutes.

Different methods work better on certain stains. For heat stains, the iron and towel method works great. For old water rings and white stains, mayonnaise is often effective.

Mineral spirits and denatured alcohol can also work on blushes, i.e. white stains caused by moisture trapped under the finish. These chemicals work by drawing out moisture from under the finish and may take a few minutes to work. A similar product is Mohawk No-Blush Plus Retarder, a spray-on product that works to remove moisture without damaging the finish.

Dark stains will benefit from the bleaching power of hydrogen peroxide, but are the most difficult to remove without professional help. Nikita Richard, owner of Furniture Resurrection in Port Chester, New York says there's rarely an easy fix for dark stains. "Often when you try to remove a dark stain, it changes the look of the finish," he says.

Instead of removing a dark stain, he blends it into the wood, a detailed and time-consuming process.

The dark stain I tried to remove from a chair seat only lightened after soaking in hydrogen peroxide overnight, so I'll need to sand and refinish the chair to remove this stain (see photo).

These are the five methods I tried: