Removing White Heat Spots - Like Magic!

About a year ago, this happened. 

Yeah, it was BAD! We were canning applesauce and laid the jars on a few layers of dish towels as they cooled. We learned that day to always put down a really thick layer of towels, like a heavy beach towel. Or else... 

Thankfully, about a month before this happened, I had discovered a tutorial on how to remove these stubborn stains.
When we first put our house on the market, the real estate agent told us the room would look bigger if we got rid of the table cloth, but we had it on there to hide a whitish spot that it already had when we got it. (Free. From our neighbor's curb. Score!) See the random plate in the picture below? She used it to cover the spot for the listing photo.

source: Zillow

 Well, that plate worked for the picture, but it bothered me big time. So I turned to Pinterest, and Tipnut had my answer. After laying a towel over the area, running a steam iron over the spot, and rubbing the table with a little bit of olive oil, it was pretty much good as new!

However, this applesauce fiasco was so, so much worse. I didn't know if the method would work. Just for a refresher, here's what it looked like before:

And here's the after (a year later, no less). The spots are almost completely gone, though depending on the angle, you can see where they were. You can also feel the difference in texture when you run your hand over the spot, but compared to the before, I'll take it!

Here it is from above with the flash on. Looking at this picture, you would never even know...

And here it is from the side. What white spots?

Just to be clear, all of those specks are scratches and places
where the veneer has chipped off. The table is clean. Promise.

Since the Great Applesauce Disaster of 2012, I've been able to pass this solution on to several friends and family members, and as far as I know, it has worked every time. So remember, even if your table looks as bad as this, it CAN be saved.