Hi I have tried searching for bleaching but I seem to be getting
conflicting information on the subject,
I have made some kitchen cabinets fronm english oak but when I oiled
them with raw linseed oil they went quite a brown colour some more than
others , I have now sanded this off , and am thinking about bleaching
to try and lighten and even out the tones , will this be possible and
would i then be able to apply an oil finish ?

many thanks in advance Paul

While I have never done any bleaching, it occurs to me that the linseed oil
may have soaked in differently across the wood because of grain patterns. I
suspect that any linseed oil that is buried in the grain could cause
splotching and really look bad.

I' try out bleaching some sample wood before working on the cabinets or on a
door back that will not show.

Don Dando
"paul" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi I have tried searching for bleaching but I seem to be getting
conflicting information on the subject,
I have made some kitchen cabinets fronm english oak but when I oiled
them with raw linseed oil they went quite a brown colour some more than
others , I have now sanded this off , and am thinking about bleaching
to try and lighten and even out the tones , will this be possible and
would i then be able to apply an oil finish ?

many thanks in advance Paul

Don Dando wrote:
While I have never done any bleaching, it occurs to me that the linseed oil
may have soaked in differently across the wood because of grain patterns. I
suspect that any linseed oil that is buried in the grain could cause
splotching and really look bad.

I' try out bleaching some sample wood before working on the cabinets or on a
door back that will not show.

Thanks Don
I have sanded out as best I can and it looks ok , I will go over with
some oil based stripper and wire wool to remove what I can from the
grain , I have spoken to rustins the uk firm who supply the bleach and
as you would imagine the reply was" try a sample and see"
many thanks Paul

paul wrote:

Hi I have tried searching for bleaching but I seem to be getting
conflicting information on the subject,

Where did you look and what did it tell you?

There are several sorts of wood bleach. Most work differently, on
different things, and have little effect on the others. Specifically,
oxalic acid is the one that's effective on darkened (aged or
weatherbeaten) oak or to remove iron stain from it, hydrogen peroxide
is the two part commercial "wood blech" that's used to lighten
tropicals or cherry, and hypochlorite bleaches (kitchen cleaners aisle)
are the ones for stripping off dyes or ink spills.

None of these are ideal for invisibly removing oil from oak. Much of
what you're seeing here is the optical effect of filling wood grain
with a translucent oil, not a dye per se.

I have made some kitchen cabinets fronm english oak but when I oiled
them with raw linseed oil they went quite a brown colour

That's just the timber darkening as you oil it. You shouldn't have used
linseed oil because in 6 months time it will be a bilious yellow colour
too. Nor should you have used raw linseed, rather than a boiled
linseed, as it's hard to cure it.


I have now sanded this off

You're unlikely to fully sand off an oil finish, it's likely to either
remain blotchy or to involve removing a lot of timber. Now you're using
oil I'd stick with it, despite any darkening. Faffing about trying to
change it will just make things worse.


As you've discovered, there's an old adage for finishing, "If you don't
experiment on scrap first, then you're experimenting on the real
thing".

You've built cabinets in what's basically a darker timber. Either live
with it, rebuild them in maple, or learn a lot about finishing first
before trying to change them. Fiddling will not help.

paul wrote:

I have sanded out as best I can and it looks ok , I will go over with
some oil based stripper and wire wool to remove what I can from the
grain , I have spoken to rustins the uk firm who supply the bleach and
as you would imagine the reply was" try a sample and see"

I assume by "wire wool" you mean steel wool.

If so, I'd try either bronze wool available at a ship's chandlery or a
plastic pot scrubber.

If you use steel wool and don't absolutely remove ALL residue, it will
eventually rust.

Lew

Lew Hodgett wrote:

If you use steel wool and don't absolutely remove ALL residue, it will
eventually rust.

Not on oak it won't, it'll turn into blue-black iron stain which is
_far_ worse than mere rust.

On 21 Jan 2007 12:41:58 -0800, "paul"
wrote:

Hi I have tried searching for bleaching but I seem to be getting
conflicting information on the subject,
I have made some kitchen cabinets fronm english oak but when I oiled
them with raw linseed oil they went quite a brown colour some more than
others , I have now sanded this off , and am thinking about bleaching
to try and lighten and even out the tones , will this be possible and
would i then be able to apply an oil finish ?

many thanks in advance Paul


Having read all the comments ,they cover most of it. As for removing
the oil try solvent such as benzene or acetone, be sure to follow the
safety instructions. Also after a good wiping down, go over with a
slightly stiff brush and work solvent liberally into the pores on the
wood. Wipe down, lat face down on a absorbent cloth or if you have
enough; sawdust.

Once it is clean and dry, recommend a good wood sealer. this helps to
even out the oil or stain color you use by sealing up the pores and
evening out the absorption of the oil / stain.

As with all advice, get advice from others before following advice.

eAlexandria wrote:

try solvent such as benzene

Fortunately Paul is unliekly to be able to get hold of any, and anyone
who can get hold of it knows that it's not a good idea to be splashing
it around quite so carelessly, especially not in a kitchen!

On 22 Jan 2007 16:19:03 -0800, "Andy Dingley "
wrote:


eAlexandria wrote:

try solvent such as benzene

Fortunately Paul is unliekly to be able to get hold of any, and anyone
who can get hold of it knows that it's not a good idea to be splashing
it around quite so carelessly, especially not in a kitchen!

As I said follow the safety directions. I have a bunch of it still
from old days gone by. And I would not expect anyone to SPLASH it at
all.

I should have said a solvent like benzene or acetone. "Odorless"
Mineral spirits would work as well, at least until the EPA outlaws
even that! Just need a lot of ventilation whatever you use. Obviously
you don't use the kitchen while you're doing all this.

Half of the chemicals that were banned from sale to the public
are safe enough to use, though getting rid of it afterwards has caused
a few problems. Does any one out there know of a safe solvent? I
haven't tried any of the citrus stuff that's out there. Feedback??

thank you all for yoyr comments.

I did try many paels before committing myself , boiled linseed ,
finishing oil , drew out the grain brown , danish oil was slightly
black , white shellac and a gilp , the raw linseed as you say was a
slightly yellow but didn't draw out the brown as much, the problem I
had was a panel or two looked ok but the kitchen has base and wall
units and this is quite a large area with quite a range of colours , I
have sanded out as best I can very difficult to see any now but I can
feel that the sandpaper is cutting dry wood , I am rying to even things
out now and hopefully start again , I have used oxcilic on green oak (
wet plaster ) but have never used the two part , I live in the U.K. so
maybe the acetone is more available here , liberon do a precleaner to
remove oil and wax I will check this out , Thank you once again for
your help Paul

paul wrote:

I live in the U.K. so maybe the acetone is more available here

Acetone will probably become hard to obtain very soon now (along with
hydrogen peroxide and chapati flour).

It's expensive, unless you go to a fibreglass specialist and buy at
least a gallon, when it becomes cheap. Handy workshop solvent and much
less noxious than most alternatives.

Andy Dingley wrote:

Acetone will probably become hard to obtain very soon now (along with
hydrogen peroxide and chapati flour).

It's expensive, unless you go to a fibreglass specialist and buy at
least a gallon, when it becomes cheap. Handy workshop solvent and much
less noxious than most alternatives.


Just curious, was buying acetone for $6-8/gallon; however,have had
some significant price increases in the last year so it is now about
$13-$14/gallon here in SoCal.

How much is it in the UK?

Lew

Acetone is about £ 20.00 for 2.5 lts delivered quite a bit more
expensive ,but I am not to sure if that is cheap or dear just
convienient . I did speak with a technical guy who advised a sprinkle
of Fullers Earth over the top to form a sort of pummice to draw out any
oil .

Thank you again for your helpfull responses Paul