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You can buy premixed wood bleach or you can mix your own:
http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles/je ... bleach.htm
https://www.woodmagazine.com/materials- ... ood-bleach
https://www.popularwoodworking.com/proj ... ching-wood

A good reference source for additional wood working skills:
http://www.am-wood.com/index.html

If you are restoring a quarter sawn oak cabinet with bad finish, after stripping use the bleach and re-finish with orange shellac - no stain to get a natural looking original type finish...

Thanks! On an oak case, would you use dark grain filler before the shellac? I've never done that and found that even with orange shellac the grain kind of disappears or at least is not as dramatic as on original machines. If yes, what grain filler would one use?

Thanks again
Andreas

Andreas,

Check this out: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=33957 I'd say, do what he does! Perfect!

Thanks for the compliment, JerryVan!

Wood bleach? I tried stuff from Home Depot and it never worked well for me.
Use Barkeepers Friend. For removing stains, put some of the powder in a small cup and add just enough water to make a wet paste. Use an old toothbrush to apply to dark areas and let it sit 5 minutes or more as needed. Then wipe off with damp cloth. Sand as little as possible, because more you sand the more likely the stain will return since it often remains deeper in the wood.

If you want to bleach a whole area, I think it might be done by using a more diluted mixture with more water for easy application. But I would worry a little about potential for splotchiness. Apply as even as possible.

Barkeeper's Friend is much cheaper than wood bleach and it inexplicably works better than hardware store wood bleach. I think it's the same active ingredient, but it really does work better.

Good idea... whatever works...

The active ingredient in old-time wood-bleach, and in Bar Keeper's Friend is Oxalic Acid.


When I was a little kid ( 50-some years ago ) I remember my mom having a box of "Wood Bleach" in here cabinet of refinishing supplies, I was surprised when I opened the box and looked inside, and saw a powder... my young little mind always assumed acids were liquid ( vinegar, battery-acid, etc.).

I don't know when they sell as "wood bleach" these days...

I would imagine that Bar Keeper's Friend is a combination of Oxalic Acid and pulverized feldspar ( Bon Ami, fine abrasive ).


The work on that lid looks really great !

I did a quick Amazon.com search and it seems Wood Bleach is pretty easy to come by.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=wood+bleach

I'm not sure where I got the wood bleach that I used, but I don't think it came from a hardware store. It definitely contained oxalic acid and worked well... Some of the wood bleach on Amazon looks good, especially the type that requires mixing Part A and Part B, which most likely contains hydrogen peroxide as well...