Wood Bleaching

[Will Armstrong]

I want to bleach my turnings before using dye, in hopes of increasing the brightness of colour. I'm going to try a 2 part method: Sodium Hydroxide + Hydrogen Peroxide. I have read several articles from AAW articles. Any personal advice or experiences anyone would like to share would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[hockenbery]

Just going white it great… adding the colors is fun too.

I use the 2 part bleach a lot.
I usually do it outside the sun makes it work a little faster.

I wear nitrile gloves apply it with a 3/4” wide foam brush.
You don’t need much For a start with 2 0z of each. I have use a big shot glass that has 4 Oz marks an enough space to allow the brush.

A 2nd or 3rd application may bleach it a little more

Red streaks is box elder stay red through the bleach.
Black spalt lines stay black
Brown ambrosia streaks turn a greenish color I don’t care for. Some people like it.
It doesn’t take blue stain out of Holley.
Walnut goes to a honey brown.

 

[Steven Forrest]

Some people in my club have used Wood Kote bleach - available at local hardware store. I had good results with Zinsser two part - through Amazon.

 

[John Jordan]

Some woods are easy, some aren't. Walnut will turn white easier than some whitish woods. Woods like boxelder will still become yellow/brown, I've learned that the hard way. Most of all WEAR EYE PROTECTION, this stuff is nasty and will blind you, it burns your skin and lungs.

Have fun.

John

 

[john lucas]

Do a test on scrap. I've had several woods surprise me when trying to bleach them to white

 

[Clifton C]

As Al said, use a foam brush, a regular paint brush can fling droplets. Mixing your own is less expensive, especially if a few split the cost. Label, label label any container you transfer chemicals into. If you have any qualms about using lye, check out some soap making websites. The stuff won't jump out of the container, but you do want to treat it with respect. If it gets on your skin, wash it off, don't waste time neutralizing, copious amounts of water, dilution is the solution... then, if the area is irritated, treat like a thermal burn. Wear eye pro and have a direct path to a sink sprayer so if the worst does happen, you are already prepared. Key word, copious... Treat with respect, plan ahead...
Here is a cherry board, after the forth application, there wasn't much of a change.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I also posted a tutorial on BLEACHING WOOD a couple of years ago based on using chemicals from the hardware store and pool supply stores.

I learned the hard way to not put the sodium hydroxide solution in a plastic container. I also discovered that over the long term it will even etch the interior of a glass jug. I store both chemicals in separate five-gallon plastic buckets.

I primarily use the two-part bleach on white woods such as maple and box elder. The effect on flame box elder is especially dramatic because removing the yellow extractives makes the orange-red color become a much brighter, almost-magenta red color. I found that even in my garage which gets plenty of natural light through the windows, the bright red persisted for about two years before it started fading to pink. I expect that eventually the light pink will become a light tan.

Some tropical hardwoods can't be bleached.

 

[Will Armstrong]

Thanks to everyone for weighing in on this. All your comments and references are very helpful. I have acquired the Lye for the local hardware store, and the 27% Hydrogen Peroxide from a chemical wholesaler.
It seems like some do their bleaching in 2 steps- Part A and then Part B. Some mix the two together then bleach. Any additional comments on this topic?

 

[Dean Center]

Will, you may know all this stuff, but I want to reinforce it for those who don't.

One of the most important lessons from H.S. chem lab was that you MUST add strong bases, like lye, to water and never add water to the lye. The reason is that if you add a little water to a bit of lye, you have an extraordinarily strong caustic solution. If your recipe calls for taking dry lye and combining with water, be EXTREMELY careful to do it in the proper sequence. If you don't have to mix lye and water with your recipe, you still must be extremely careful when combining your two ingredients. It's not enough to have the right amount of each one. Some people get around this potential problem by applying one of the ingredients to the wood, and then apply the other to the wood.

Someone's mention of protective eyewear is very important, too. Eyes can neutralize a mild acid if it gets in the eye, but it cannot handle even a little lye. This is one reason you don't see Drano crystals in every grocery store anymore. Lye can cost you your sight and the only treatment is a cornea transplant.

 

[Bill Boehme]

You can bleach wood with just sodium hydroxide, but adding the hydrogen peroxide gives a slightly stronger bleaching reaction. Some people mix the two chemicals before applying them to the wood, but the peroxide will start turning to water.

 

[Will Armstrong]

Thanks again. I am going to try the 2 step approach first.