Removing Moisture (or heat) "Rings" From A Lacquered Top

It's frustrating when you put a glass or coffee cup down on a finished surface and later you observe it left a cloudy circle in the finish. It's a cloudy unmistakable ring where the glass or cup of coffee sat on your shiny table top, side board, coffee table, etc. Ugh. Here's a "miraculous" little tip I learned years ago that can make these unwanted signatures go away.

Next time you are at WalMart, your pharmacy, or perhaps a Home Depot (or some similar place) ask for a little bottle containing Spirits of Camphor. (The Camphor is going to soften the lacquered surface of your furniture. The idea here is that you can release the trapped moisture in the lacquer by softening it just enough to allow the moisture to dissolve in the camphor, adhere to the cloth, and escape. You want to apply just enough Camphor to soften the surface--but not so much that you remove it.) So, take your little acquisition home and patiently perform the following little exercise.

1. Get a small piece of cotton cloth. A little piece cut from, for example, an old undershirt will work just fine. You want just enough cloth so you can hold it in your hand and fold it twice--two thicknesses of the cloth--around and between your index and third finger.
2. Standing over the ring you want to remove, pretend your index finger, with the little cloth you have wrapped around it, is a little biplane with pontoons for water landings. The cloth is it's landing gear (the pontoons). Make a practice pass over the table and the ring with your covered finger--do this as if you're a pilot inspecting an anticipated landing site, the ring, in preparation for your next fly-over. You're going to land on one edge of that ring, slide along its curvature for a little distance, and then lift from it again.
   
3. With your next "air approach" drop down so you finger (pontoon) touches on the curvature of the ring. Slide across the ring as far as you can, staying on the ring's curvature with your cloth "pontoon," then quickly lift again from the ring...a probably short but smooth "touch and glide distance..." and then back up (maybe an inch or two slide depending on the size of your ring). Try this several times until you've got a feel for it--a smooth "in-down-slide across- then up and away" movement. Practice it several times.
4. Now when you think you've got the moves, take the lid from your Spirits of Camphor and wet the "pontoon" of your little make believe biplane. The cloth should be wet enough--but not dripping--so you can make a clean damp sweep across the ring's edge. Do this repeatedly landing on one part of the ring, applying just a little pressure, and then back up (8-10 slides without re-wetting). Do this rapidly and repeatedly watching as the ring begins to fade. Be patient and methodical. Continue landing, sliding, and up until that part of the ring completely disappears.
5. Continue this effort gradually moving around the ring until it's all GONE.

What should you expect? Where you removed the ring may take a slightly flatter sheen than the surrounding area. That's not unusual, especially in an older lacquered surface. But that shiny patina is generally a lot less noticeable than the ring you just removed. In newer surfaces, and when the Camphor has completely evaporated, you can often briskly buff the sheen back up with a soft cotton cloth.

Anyway, this little experience is fun...and just a little surprising.