DIYbanter - View Single Post - unfinished red oak boards that beer was spilled on ruined?

Mike Marlow[_2_]

Leon wrote:
On 1/20/2014 12:51 PM, wrote:
On Monday, January 20, 2014 10:58:02 AM UTC-6, Mike Marlow wrote:

This is good, but why a water and/or a water/soap wash not work? The
water and/or the water/soap is going to infiltrate those fibers the very
same way that the original beer spill did.

Wow... this thread is going from weird to surreal. Soon someone
will suggest that the piece be sent to a lab in Germany for testing,
then treatment at an undisclosed location using products that don't
exist... or do they? This is probably an pretty simple problem (but
we don't know without details as the OP bugged out)and no extensive
wood rehabilitation (really... board planing?) is needed. Surely
there are others out there that have experience
finishing/refinishing contaminated surfaces... Water on a piece of
oak might stain almost as much as the beer did. And never use any soap in
unsealed wood as it will leave a residue
that is almost impossible to remove or seal over. Worse, the soap
(which is most likely a surfactant of some sort) will simply
redistribute the remaining dried particles over the area you are
cleaning/washing. Unless allowed to stand with a liquid on it, wood,
even oak (don't
panic over the tubules), absorbs very little liquid when exposed. I
did some of my own experiments after reading how little penetration
wood finishes get, and was literally stunned at low little finish of
any sort is absorbed by wood. Whether the finish is thick or thin,
the amount of surface penetration is probably nor more than a very
few thousands at best. A simple spill is not different. While we
were not given any additional information to help with a
better diagnosis, under normal circumstances it would be likely that
the project had beer spilled on it and was immediately wiped down. If
this is the case, the remaining residue can be wiped off with
mineral spirits and a porous rag, then after completely dry, a
little sanding. Loosened particles that contain the last of the beer
should be easily dusted away at this point, then a quick wipe with a
rage moistened with mineral spirits should do the trick. Robert

Next up, perhaps the board should be sent up to the space station to
see how it will clean up under zero gravity conditions.

Wow - all of this over a simple suggestion to wipe it down with water - and
maybe a little soap? I've done both over decades with absolutely no
problems. Can't understand how this is getting this big.

--

-Mike-