Has anyone tried the 'steam iron' method of removing a white ring left on the top of a wood occasional table? I read about it on the tipnut.com site and have also read all the comments (pages of them) from people who have tried it and for the majority it seems to work but, like most people, I am personally reluctant to try it. Chicken, I am! If you have tried it and found it worked, please let me know. Thank you.

Hi Supergold, I have used an iron to remove shallow dents in a table but not the white ring. To remove a dent, you dampen the wood and put a piece of brown paper over the dent then apply a hot iron.

Thank you Matador, you were brave. I may just give the iron a go but I think I will start with a very low heat and see what happens. The trouble it is my elderly parents table and my sister was pretty careless. Dad is ropeable but at the point where he is willing to give anything a go. Fingers crossed!

Hi Supergold, I have had a look round and most people using the iron trick use a piece of white material (like T-shirt or tea towel) and use a medium heat iron. Lets us know how you get on.

I printed out the tipnut website instructions and some of the comments, plus the advice from here and (chicken that I am) took it over to my dear old Dad today and said he could give it a try but if he really, really wanted me to, I would do it for him. My dopey younger (60 year old) sister did the damage, kept it covered while she was staying with Mum and Dad, then took off home (Europe) without saying anything. Blimey, I hope it works. Will let you know.

Supergold, When I was doing housework years ago, the husband of one of my ladies put a hot cup of tea on their polished table and it left a round white mark. I was told to use a raw walnut, and it worked very well. Hope this is of some help to you

Thank you ansy pansy, Dad hasn't tried the iron yet and there are always walnuts in the house to use on scratches to the furniture where Mum's 'walker' has left marks. We didn't think of the walnut for the white ring mark so will give that a try first. Whew... anything but that ruddy iron!

Have you tried it yet Supergold? I think I would be scared too. Maybe a phone call to a furniture restorer or even a commercial cleaner might yield some info.