Wood impregnation, making wood look old, bleaching and darken wood, wood granite & more

Bleaching wood [1]

Pretreatment
With wood that contains a lot of resin, the surface must first be de-resined. You can do that with wood soap or thinner.

Tannin
Woods that contain a lot of tannin, such as oak and sweet chestnut, turn dark if they are treated with only ammonia. With ammonia dissolved in hydrogen peroxide, these types of wood actually color paler.

Working with ammonia and hydrogen peroxide
It all seems very exciting because of the chemicals. Still, it's relatively easy to do.

• For bleaching wood, use hydrogen peroxide (30% - 35%) and ammonia (30% - 35%).
• For application, use a plastic brush without a metal sleeve or other metal.
• We do not recommend using a piece of fabric wrapped around a stick as an alternative brush. Due to the chemical reaction between the substances you use, it can catch fire. If you do it this way, keep a bucket of water nearby and dip your homemade rag brush in it as soon as you're done.
• After the treatment, the chemicals should be rinsed out as well as possible with clean water.

Some important points

1. Most types of wood can be bleached with only hydrogen peroxide in concentrated form (for example 30%).
2. A single type of wood, such as oak, is better bleached with a diluted solution.
3. To obtain a better and faster reaction, the hydrogen peroxide can be used in combination with ammonia. Then the bleaching goes much deeper. Even discolorations caused by, for example, blue mold or cover slats are sometimes bleached away.
4. If necessary, make a small test piece first.
5. If oak and chestnut wood has discolored due to the action of iron on the tannic acid present in the wood, the method below is not suitable.

Method 1
(small objects)

• Put some hydrogen peroxide (30%) in a glass jam jar and add 3 to 10% ammonia (35%). Immediately treat your wood with this because of the chemical reaction that has occurred in your jam jar. The longer you wait, the less your mix will work. So this method only works for small objects.

Method 2
(large objects)

• With larger workpieces, it is better to let the chemical reaction take place on your wood. Generously brush the surface with hydrogen peroxide (30%)
• Immediately afterwards, brush quickly and lightly with ammonia (30%) that you have first diluted 1:1 with water.
• Now that the hydrogen peroxide and the ammonia only come into contact with each other on the wood, you get the best possible bleaching effect.
• The more you dilute the ammonia, the weaker the bleaching effect. With undiluted ammonia you get an accelerated reaction and a strong bleaching effect.
• At room temperature, the entire bleaching process will take about 12 hours. Then leave the wood for another 24 hours before you want to work it further. You can repeat the bleaching process one more time if you want it even lighter.

Do not finish your bleached wood with alkyd based products. This wants to react with any residual water peroxide left behind and will discolour the wood strongly. Finishing with products based on acrylic resin is possible.

Wood can always change color later. Even back to the original color. If you want to make sure that the color of your wood stays the way you made it for as long as possible, you can treat it with a product that contains a UV filter.

NB!
Wear protective gloves, safety goggles, possibly a protective apron and work in a well-ventilated area. For hydrogen peroxide and ammonia, read the manufacturer's safety instructions on the packaging.

Darken oak wood

Smoked oak wood
You can easily darken oak wood yourself with a simple process, what they call: 'smoked oak wood'. Actually it is very simple. You allow the vapor of ammonia to react with the tannic acid present in oak wood. This method only works with untreated 'bare' wood. It should also work with chestnut wood, which also contains a lot of tannic acid.

The ammonia will have largely evaporated, so the remaining liquid in the container will mainly consist of water and you can throw it away. The vapor has done its job and darkened your wood. Want it even darker? Then you just repeat the whole process.

Attention! Make sure the vapor can reach all areas of the wood. Do not place the container with ammonia on the oak wood. You can put the oak itself on thin sticks. Either you take some old planks, put some screws through them and place them upside down, with the screw points upwards, on the bottom of the box. You put the wood on this. This way the ammonia can reach your wood everywhere.

Making a large oak object dark, such as a cupboard or a door, is also possible. You can build a 'tent' around it with some sticks and plastic foil and carry out the above process. If necessary, place an extra container of ammonia.

Bleaching of wood [2]

After this, one can whiten with:
1. Saturated solution of oxalic acid (poison) in warm water. The solution is brushed in well. The operation can be repeated at intervals.
2. Bleach, which can be purchased ready-made or made from bleach powder and soda solution. Dissolve 5¼ dl soda ash in sufficient water and, in addition, 2½ dl chlorinated lime in water. The two solutions are then mixed, the precipitate is allowed to settle and the clear solution is decanted. The solution is applied hot.
3. A solution of 5 g of potassium permangate per liter of water, followed by a solution of sodium sulphite or bisulphite. Optionally, post-bleaching with a 5% solution of oxalic acid is possible.
.4. A 10 pc solution of sodium hydrosulfite.

After bleaching, the wood must always be thoroughly washed with clean water. After alkaline bleaching agents, a little vinegar is added to the first washing water.

Black stained veneer

The maintenance of parquet floors

The mixture is allowed to stand in a warm place for several more days, stirred from time to time and then filtered. The preparation can be used for all wooden floors, it penetrates into the wood and into the seams, disinfects the floor and the evaporating components disinfect the air.

By dissolving 2% beeswax and 4% carnauba wax or 8% I.G., wax V in the preparation, it also gives a shine to the treated wood.