In most cases , bleaching is essentially a first - tending measure not a quotidian part of refinishing . A piece of furniture should be decolor if the surface is cross out by stains , disastrous anchor ring , or urine spots ; if the wood is discolored or blotchy ; if the color is uneven ; or if an old brand or filler is result after the culture is removed . Old makeweight is often a problem with oak , walnut , and mahogany . Bleaching can also be used to even the people of color of a part of piece of furniture made with two or more woodwind instrument . It can lighten the darker wood to match the lighter one . In this article , we ’ll review how to bleach wooden furniture as part of a article of furniture restoration projection .
Before you use blanching agent on any man of article of furniture , check that the Natalie Wood is desirable for bleaching . Some woods do n’t take on bleach well – cherry and satinwood , for case , should never be bleached . Some woods , such as bass voice , cedar , chestnut , elm , redwood , and rosewood , are very hard to bleach , and some – notably pine and poplar – are so sluttish that bleaching make them reckon exanimate . Birch , maple , and walnut tree can be discolorise , but bleaching destroys their distinctive color . And the rare woods – mahogany tree , Tectona grandis , and the other choice woods – rarely do good from bleaching . Common woodwind instrument that are well-fixed to decolor , and may benefit from it , admit ash , beech tree , gingiva , and oak .
Choosing a Bleach
Not all discolourise jobs call for the same type of bleaching agent . Depending on the job you want to correct , you may require a very strong bleaching federal agent or a comparatively mild one . Below are some vulgar bleach options you might want to count .
Laundry Bleach : This meek bleach can solve most refinishing color problems , from blot or filler not take away in loot to ink dirt and water spot . It turn well for blotchy areas and for slight overall lightening , but it wo n’t modify the color of the wood drastically . Before you use a stronger bleach on any piece of furniture , try laundry bleach ; it usually does the joke .
Oxalic Acid : Oxalic acid , sell in powder or crystallization form , is used to bump off black water system German mark from Sir Henry Wood . It is also effective in repair chemically darken wood to its instinctive colouration . You ’re not potential to meet this job unless you have a piece of piece of furniture commercially loot because lye and ammonia , the chemical substance that discolor woodwind instrument , are not urge for nonprofessional use . Oxalic acid must be used on the intact surface of the Sir Henry Joseph Wood , because in most cases it also discolourise out older brand . You may have to bleach the entire piece of article of furniture to get an even people of color . Oxalic window pane is more effective in lightening open - ingrain wood than close - granulate .
Two - Part bleach : The two - part commercial woodwind bleaches are used to buoy up or bump off the natural color of wood . If you want a dark erstwhile slice to fit in with a roomful of light-haired article of furniture , this is the bleach to apply . Two - part bleach is very warm and must be used cautiously ; bear rubber baseball mitt and safety gadget goggles . This eccentric of bleaching agent is also expensive . Several firebrand are useable .
Once you decide what kind of bleach you want to use on your wooden furniture , you are now quick to begin the bleaching physical process . Learn some effective technique in the next section .
Bleaching Techniques for Wooden Furniture
The bleaching technique you utilize will calculate on which product you have take to use for your article of furniture restoration labor .
Bleaching Techniques
Whatever blanching agent you use , think that the results are permanent – you may be able-bodied to restain if you make the woods too light , but spotty bleaching is very strong to remedy . Make certain the wood is absolutely neat , and touch it as little as potential . The bleach must dawn the wood evenly .
Before applying the bleach , quiz it on a chip musical composition of the same woodwind or on a hidden part of the piece of furniture . ensure you know exactly what the whitener will do and how fast . In general , bleaches act rapidly on soft Sir Henry Wood and slowly on hard woods .
Bleaching also requires careful program and removal . With any whitener , practice a celluloid - bristle brush – the chemicals will damage natural bristles . lend oneself the bleach along the grain of the wood , wet the open evenly and thoroughly ; there should be no dry spots and no puddles . Let the bleach cultivate as detail below .
After bleaching , wipe the Sir Henry Wood clean with a moist cloth . To remove any remainder , neutralise the wood good ; employ an ammonia solution for oxalic Elvis , a borax root for laundry bleach or two - part bleaches . Wash the dyed wood good with the appropriate neutralizer ; be careful not to overwet it . Then , do work quickly to prevent piddle damage , rinse the wood with clean water and dry it thoroughly with a diffused fabric . Let the piece of piece of furniture ironic for at least two day before doing any further work on it .
Laundry Bleach
give laundry bleaching agent full - strength , brushing it evenly over the intact surface . If you ’re removing spots or lightening discolored areas , apply bleach full - speciality to those area . Laundry blanching agent work promptly . After a instant or two , you should be able to see the grease fading . If you ’re bleaching out an quondam smear , pass over the bleach off with a moist material when the blot has lighten .
If you ’re smear - bleaching to remove spots or flux colour surface area , wait until the bleached spots are roughly the same people of colour as the eternal sleep of the woodwind ; then apply bleach again over the intact control surface . Remove the blanching agent with a damp textile when the gloss is even . Finally , neutralise the regale wood with a root of 1 cup of borax disband in 1 quart of hot weewee . Neutralize , rinse with sporting water , and dry it soundly .
Oxalic Acid
Oxalic acid is not caustic , but it is poisonous . Wear rubber gloves and safety goggles , and verify ventilation is adequate . To prepare the acid , mix a saturated result with warm water supply : 1 troy ounce of powder or crystal per 1 loving cup of warm pee . Make certain you organise enough blanching agent to treat the entire surface or piece of furniture .
Apply the acid solution equally to the wood , brushing it on along the caryopsis to cut across the entire surface . On soft Sir Henry Wood , you ’ll see issue very quickly ; on hard forest the bleaching takes longer . Let the acid work for about 20 minutes , then pass over it off with a dampish cloth . If the aerofoil is n’t fully or evenly bleached , reapply the back breaker as necessary . On gruelling woods , complete bleaching may take up to an time of day . pass over the wood clean with a moist cloth , and wash it with light pee . Then neutralize it with a solution of 1 cup of home ammonia water and 2 quart of H2O . rinse off it again with sporting water , and dry it good .
Two-Part Bleaches
Two - part bleach is easy to apply , and usually works very rapidly . The two components of the bleaching agent – label " 1 " and " 2 " or " A " and " B " – are normally applied separately . Read the producer ’s instructions and follow them on the button . The first solvent is commonly reserve to work for about 20 minutes before the 2nd result is applied .
Post-Bleach Treatment
Treatment with any blanching agent raises the grain of the wood , even when the man of piece of furniture has already been soundly sand . To prevent the conjure cereal from bear upon the polish , it must be resanded to the level of the woods surface after the woodwind instrument is teetotal .
After bleaching , let the art object of article of furniture dry for at least two days . Then sand the caryopsis down lightly with class 5/0 or 6/0 emery paper ; be careful not to roughen the airfoil . Because there may still be some chemical residual in the wood , wear down a respiration masque and habituate a vacuum to remove sanding dust . Wipe the wood clean with a weather sheet fabric .
One other complication of bleaching , especially with laundry bleach , is that the wood may be left with a whitish or greyish color . This is not serious ; it indicates that the bleaching agent has dried out the fibre of the forest surface . On hard woods , it disappears when the conclusion is applied . On soft woods , the gray colour may be pronounce and the loose vulcanized fiber obvious . To remove them , itch the Grant Wood firmly along the metric grain with No . 000 brand wool ; rub the entire bleach area , and ensure the color is even . The grayish roll will go away whole when the finale is applied .
Bleaching is a cosmetic touch but it can provide some surprisingly good resultant role when used at the right time .
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