Everyday Cleaning---Water Stains

Water Stains:
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It seems a little ironic that the most abundant cleaner, water, is itself capable of leaving one of the toughest stains to remove.
 
To treat furniture with a white water stain, remedies abound. If one of the solutions below doesn't work, another one probably will. In all cases, unless otherwise noted, rub with a cloth dipped in the 
cleaner, going with the grain of the wood. Follow this up by buffing with a clean cloth and applying your regular furniture polish.
A 50-50 mix of baking soda with white tooth paste (not colored or gel)
Mayonniase--let sit for an hour
Petroleum Jelly--let sit for a day
A solution of a little hot water with a few drops of clear ammonia added.
A solution of equal parts of vinegar, boiled linseed oil, and turpentine, the latter two available at hardware and paint stores
 Paste wax applied with superfine (0000) steel wool, may be the only cure.

To treat furniture with a black water stain, there's only one remedy: Strip off the finish and bleach
the wood. Chances are, if the wood has such a stain, the finish is already next to nonexistent.
 

No Watertight Answers for Cloth
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Water stains on washable cloth are water soluble to some extent, especially when recent, according to textile conservator Deborah Bede, owner of  Stillwater Textile Conservation Studio in Bradford, New
Hampshire. But detergent isn't much help, because the water stain isn't dirt; it's caused by a change in the fibers. Bleach helps, but caution is in order. Chlorine bleach can damage fibers and leave a residue. 
Don't use it on items that you care about.

• To treat stains on washable cloth, use a color-safe bleach, which is not chlorine-based. Treat the whole item, not just the spot. Use 1/4 cup per quart of water, and rinse several times.
• For fragile antique items,  Bede recommends washing in a solution of 1 teaspoon of Orvus WA paste per gallon of distilled water. Look for Orvus at quilt shops, museum supply stores. Rinse in distilled  water until the water runs clear. For especially valuable or precious items, consult a professional conservator.
• For un-washable items, such as those made of wool or silk, you're probably stuck with  the stain. Because it's caused by water, dry-cleaning won't help.

so removing it shouldn't be too difficult. Use a paint and varnish remover, available at hardware and paint stores. Le the piece dr y; then treat it with oxalic acid bleach, available at hardware stores.
Follow the directions on the labels of these products.

To treat water stains on painted walls or ceilings, dab with a mixture of 1/4 cup of chlorine bleach in 1 quart of warm water. If  several application don't work, you'll need t.o repaint. But first apply a sealant so the stain won't bleed through. Zinsser BIN Primer Sealer, available at hardware stores, is a good one.

To treat water stains on a carpet or upholstery, try a 50-50 solution of water and white vinegar. Wet a cloth with the solution and gently blot the surface. If this doesn't work, your best bet is to call a professional.

Wax
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If you burn candles, inevitably some wax will spill. one way to minimize damage in advance is to burn only white candles. The dye in colored candles--especially red ones--compounds the problem.

To remove white wax from carpeting or upholstery, use the fire-and-ice approach.

1. Put some ice cubes into a plastic bug and place it on the wax for a few minutes to make the wax more brittle.
2. Scrape off the wax with the dull side of a table knife.
3. Use a hair dryer on high to soften the remaining wax
4. Scrape again.
5. Put a layer of paper towels or white rags over the wax and pass a warm iron over the area. Keep moving a clean area of the towels or rags onto the spot.
6. Test some dry-cleaning solvent on an inconspicuous area, and if it does no damage, blot a little into the remaining wax stain. The solvent is available at hardware stores.

To remove white wax from table linens or clothing, use the above methods, with these changes:

• Put the item in a plastic bag and then into the freezer for a half  hour before scraping.
• On washable items, saturate  the final stain with a solution of 1 part rubbing alcohol to 2 parts water  and let it sit for a half hour. Rinse and the launder in the washing machine. Send nonwashable items to the dry cleaner.

Simple SOLUTIONS

No-Wax Mahogany >

The birthday party ended with your aged aunt blowing out all the candles--and wax all over your
beautiful mahhogany table. Thank goodness there were only 85 candles, not 100!
Take heart--wax come s off  fairly easily from wood surfaces.

1. If you get at the wax while it is still warm, wipe up all you can with a clean cloth.
2. If the wax has hardened, soften it with a hair dryer set on medium and then wipe.
3. Remove the last bits with a cloth dampened with mineral spirits.

 For colored wax, skip the joining. The heat will only help set the dye. Instead, try this:
After freezing and scraping use mineral spirts, available at hardware and paint stores, on the rest of the wax. Test first and work on only tiny areas at a time, blotting with a rag. Only you can judge
whether the treatment is worse than the disease, because mineral spirits may damage some materials. Some dyes may not be removable.
Treat  washable color fast fabrics with bleach, following directions on the package. Then launder.
For fine rugs or upholstery consult a professional.

To remove wax from dishes and glass, heat with a hair dryer and wipe with a cloth. Then keep wiping and polishing with used fabric softener sheets.