Removing marks from unsealed wood

[blissieblue]

Can anyone recommend a way of removing red candle wax and red wine stains from our unsealed beech sideboard? I've tried wire wool and fine grade sandpaper which has made a difference but the marks are very definitely still there. It was a wedding present from PIL and they're coming to stay next weekend!

Do they add "character" at all?

Would a naice doiley cover it?

is this a polite way of saying no chance I'll get them off? :o

Wax it with a coloured beeswax perhaps? If you can't sand it away then I'd think its there to stay. How about a nice runner?

I've sanded it a bit more and it's looking better - maybe once it's waxed again the stains will be less obvious. If not it'll have to be a permanent reminder of Christmas 2011!

For the wax you should be able to draw most of it out if you put brown paper or kitchen roll on it and iron it, keep moving the paper and it should pull it out. I think sanding is the only option past that point though. And now I'm going to sound like my mother...

The best way to treat a stain is straight away

you could also try wiping it with white spririt. IIRC shoe polish is mostly made of paraffin wax and white spirit, so it should dissolve the wax. However this might also make it soak into the wood, so test a tiny bit first.

otherwise you could try rubbing the surface with wire wool, which will polish the surface off but not wear it away as fast as sandpaper.

p.s. the red wine stains will probably bleach out with oxalic acid, which is used by people restoring furniture. You might be able to get the crystals through a craft shop.

Could you sand the whole top of the sideboard? We do this about once a year on our oak table and then oil it, looks great afterwards. Tip-take the sideboard outside to do this

With an electric sander I mean

Would liberon ring remover work? I remember someone mentioning it on mn before, though it was to remove a scorch mark.