bleaching wood

Don Baer

Moderator
Staff member
Well, I need to bleach some wood for the commission so I have been playing with different methods. The first method I tried was to use Oxalic Acid. It didn't do anything. Today I was able to locate some sodium Hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide. The method is to put the sodium hydroxide on first and teen minutes later use the hydrogen peroxide. Here are the results of two identical pieces the one on the right is unbleached.
attachment.php
the wood is soft maple.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1621.JPG
    IMG_1621.JPG
    53.8 KB · Views: 126
You got a good thing there Don. Nice process. I just use the 2 part wood bleach little strong but same result. Then place the wood in the sun which whitens the wood even more.
 
Hey Don, I've got a piece of ash I want to bleach, so I have a few questions. OK, a bunch of questions. :D

Where were did you find the sodium hydroxide? Apparently pure lye drain cleaners aren't as easy to find as they used to be, ever since the meth heads started using it in the kitchen. Did you find something local, or did you order online? What ratio did you mix it with water? For the hydrogen peroxide, did you use the typical drugstore concentration, or did you find something stronger?

Thanks. If this project works out, it should be worth the effort. :thumb: (Fingers crossed.) :p
 
Don't they still sell the Red Devil Lye? Or is it like TSP where they've changed the formulas?

From what I've been reading on the Intarwebs, Red Devil Lye is getting harder and harder to find. Lot of rumbling on the soapmaking forums about how hard it is to get anymore. (That said, I'm gonna hit up a couple local small hardware stores later and see what might be in my neighborhood.) Some of the other lye-based drain cleaners also have aluminum particles in them, and I suspect that might mess things up for bleaching wood.

I did do a test with Clorox on a piece of scrap, and that looks like it will work with ash, but I'd need to soak the piece pretty heavily. Ideally, I'd like to only bleach the outside of the piece (a bowl), but not the inside. If that's not possible, I do have a Plan B.
 
From what I've been reading on the Intarwebs, Red Devil Lye is getting harder and harder to find...I did do a test with Clorox on a piece of scrap, and that looks like it will work with ash, but I'd need to soak the piece pretty heavily. Ideally, I'd like to only bleach the outside of the piece (a bowl), but not the inside. If that's not possible, I do have a Plan B.

Vaughn,
Just go to Home Depot, and buy a kit of Jasco two-part wood bleach in the paint department.

It has both the Sodium Hydroxide and the 20% Peroxide in it. (BTW, household peroxide is only about 5%).

Just follow the directions in the kit. Works fine, and you don't have the additional hazards of mixing your own chemistry.
 
Hey Don, I've got a piece of ash I want to bleach, so I have a few questions. OK, a bunch of questions. :D

Where were did you find the sodium hydroxide? Apparently pure lye drain cleaners aren't as easy to find as they used to be, ever since the meth heads started using it in the kitchen. Did you find something local, or did you order online? What ratio did you mix it with water? For the hydrogen peroxide, did you use the typical drugstore concentration, or did you find something stronger?

Thanks. If this project works out, it should be worth the effort. :thumb: (Fingers crossed.) :p

My local woodcraft has a kit that has an 8 oz bottle of sodium hydroxide and an 8 oz bottle of hydrogen perxide. It cost about $10.
 
Thanks Jim and Don. :thumb: I wasn't able to find anything online at either place last night, but I'll check Home Depot later today. Unfortunately, Woodcraft is an hour and a half away.

Thanks again :wave:
 
Vaughn,
Sodium Hydroxide is an ingredient used in Meth Labs so It is a controlled substance so it is not easy to get. My Home depot didn't carry it. I just found it at woodcraft by accident. The kit is made by Zinsser the same folks who put out the shellac. The product number on the box is 42138
 
I wasn't able to find the 2-part bleaching kits anywhere local, so I went with regular ol' Clorox. Soaked the piece in straight Clorox for about 4 or 5 hours and it really lightened up the ash I'm using. Pics in a few days after it's all finished.

BTW, sodium hydroxide isn't technically a controlled substance, but it can be used in the manufacturing of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), much like pseudoephedrine (Sudafed), which is also getting harder and harder to buy around here.
 
Vaughn,
I'm not sure of the chemistry, but I think my grandparents used to put wood ash in a barrel and then run water through it to leach out the lye... don't quote me on that though... that would be many years back. Also think they used lye in the process of making hominy corn.... they soaked the corn in a lye solution to disolve the outsides of the kernals leaving only the soft inner portion..... don't quote on that either.

Here are a couple of links in case you want to try it.....
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Lye

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_ashlye.html

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapmakingsafety/tp/Making-Lye-from-Wood-Ashes.htm

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/coldprocesssoapmaking/a/lyesources.htm

This last link says that RED DEVIL has been discontinued...
 
Last edited:
My grandmother did that to make soap. She was right there at hog butchering time to collect the back fat and her lye bucket was filling. She built an outdoor fire and cooked her concoction into soap. It then got poured into wooden molds to make bars.

I don't remember much more, but I do remember the smell!

No wonder we came out beet red after a scrub down and bath at Grandma's house!
 
My grandmother did that to make soap. She was right there at hog butchering time to collect the back fat and her lye bucket was filling. She built an outdoor fire and cooked her concoction into soap. It then got poured into wooden molds to make bars.

I don't remember much more, but I do remember the smell!

No wonder we came out beet red after a scrub down and bath at Grandma's house!

The first layer of hide was probably scrubbed off, between the lye and the scrubbing, but we were clean! :D:D
 
Some of the people who throw pots, etc. for a hobby and make their own glazes use wood ash lye. Of those who do this, many make their own from the wood ash. Suggest trying a ceramics or pottery forum for how to make it. A pottery forum would probably be the best place to start.

I do not think the process is used in any of the "low fire" glazes. I have used the glazes in cone 5, 7 and 10 which are in the "high fire" range. Forums that deal with molds and painting cast ceramics probably will not have any info. for you.

I hope this helps.

Enjoy,
JimB

p.s. Some of those ash glazes are extremely beautiful.
 
Last edited:
Top