How to Bleach Wood/ Wise Owl OHE/ Oak Table Redone

[@lindeehopkins6439]

It's beautiful Melanie! Oak has natural gold undertones...but yellow means HOPE who doesn't need THAT this days???? Gold means glory & purity...Oak means strength. One of the strongest woods!! So I say you have a glorious table of strength ready to have new memories of HOPE made for a family!!

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

You’re so cool. Thank you 😊

[@loricruz6992]

The table top turned out beautiful, but the Wise Owl finish turned it back to it's original yellow tone, which is what I would want to get away from.

[@gloriahudson9408]

Wow. This is the first video I see using direct household bleach. It turned out gorgeous. I have used bleach 50-50 with water on chipboard wood. Worked for me too (I whitewashed afterwards). Light wood looks so nice.

[@CorinneCHARLESCOSTE]

Great video! Maybe you should have done a white wash before sealing the top, it could have prevent the yellowing... a kind of cerusė effect

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

I agree 😊

[@juststeph6701]

I've bleached wood with household bleach then sealed with ultra matte polycyclic. It has had absolutely no reaction for 6 months so far. If you want to try again, maybe that would work for you. A pickling stain would look gorgeous on that table!

[@trudemorse4623]

I’ve bleached my end tables and sealed it with sweet pickins flat matte top coat that I bought from Jami Ray Vintage. It didn’t give it a yellow look and kept the bleached look. Maybe next time use Big Top? That might work! But the table turned out beautiful either way and I loved the sheen of that wax you used! Always love your work 😁❤️

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Good idea. Thanks Trude 🤗

[@christinegallina3553]

I just purchased an oak table like this and love the bleached look. I absolutely loved the color before the Wise Owl application (I love that it’s natural tho!). Thanks for sharing regarding the matte flat coat - I was wondering how to seal seal the top without losing the bleached look. Great channel!

[@coloredcaboosecreations]

Talk about bringing a forgotten dining set back to life. You made it fresh and new again!! I wish there was smell-a- vision when you applied that salve👃🏼.Have you thought about adding a little white wax?

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Yes lol! Thank you Mel

[@lisaroth7526]

I've been watching a number of bleaching/whitening videos lately. There was an older guy who took an oak cabinet door and got it to go white with black veins. I wasn't as fond of that look. I've heard that oak, with it's pronounced veining, is the best wood to do this on, which is fine, but as you found, the finish is the crowning touch. I'm wondering if a white oil wax, like Sweet Pickins Milk Paint has, would treat the wood right after all of that bleaching, *plus* accentuate the white/light wood look we're going for. I have a decades old oak table top in my kitchen I may try that on one of these days. It definitely needs to be less hot here, though.

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

I believe any white wash over it would definitely help. For this video I was doing just bleach. The white wash would work as always

[@kathibell2428]

I love the way this turned out, beautiful job as always. ❤️

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

😊🤗

[@violethoffermobilehomemove9189]

It looks great! I did a whole real old wood barn wood wall with the bleach. I can't remember how many times I bleached it. But I put it in a spray bottle & saturated it multiple times. It was or is a bit whiter than yours. I'm afraid to seal it with anything, fear it going golden again. I have some scrap pieces I'm gonna try first. I have even thought about white wax to keep the whiter bleached look. I don't know it seems like any topcoat sealer pulls the gold or red out of a piece of wood..

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Yes I agree. With this wood at least. White wax or white wash would work. But it’s a wall so I wouldn’t worry about it

[@ellenlubinsky691]

Nice sheen! I like the way it turned out. Sealing a table top, in my opinion, is a must. Maybe polyurethane non-yellowing would keep the bleached look? To be continued…

[@jenniferfoster7267]

I just redid a table JUST like that!! Love it!!

[@getoverthyself]

Years ago a professional antique restorer shared with me how to bleach some water stains out of my the piece I had brought to him. I'm pretty sure you can't bleach the natural undertone out of the wood; as we see after you sealed it.(There are websites with info on natural undertones of woods) Also, bleach changes the pH balance of the wood, especially undiluted. This showed after you rinsed it, as it sucked up as much water as it could; hence the wood swelling. It was thirsty after all that bleach! A good test of bleaching would have been on that stained chair, lol. If you use bleach again wait until its totally dry and evaporated, of course, and then apply vinegar to bring back the pH. Make sure you're in a well ventilated area so there is no chance of any residual bleach fumes mixing with the vinegar fumes (fatal)! Any finish will take better when the wood has the proper pH. Hope this helps❣

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Thank you Conway!

[@getoverthyself]

@@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie You're welcome! Forgot to mention that the vinegar does not need to be diluted.

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Awesome! Thank you again 🤗😊

[@getoverthyself]

@@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie You bet, happy to share 🥰

[@kathleenbrown6734]

a lot of people whitewash the top and that sealed it and looked really good!

[@nicolecapote1724]

I honestly have no idea why it got yellow-y again...but my gut tells me it was the sealer. I guess now it makes sense why you haven't seen other creators sealing their bleached wood...lol...nobody knows how!! 🤣 🤣 Regardless, it came out beautifully and totally inspired me to try this myself so thanks for sharing!!

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Thank you so much

[@juststeph6701]

I seal mine with Polycrylic and have never had bleached wood yellow.

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Thank you

[@marybronson442]

That is Beautiful, great job!!!

[@mariemayer1016]

Looks great!! But I have watched several videos and I think you have neutralize it with vinegar Abdul water prior to using the sealer to remove excess bleach and having any reactions!

[@carlaward5983]

I think it turned out beautiful.

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Thanks Carla! Can’t believe I got busy and missed my own premiere 🤔

[@emilykrahn3185]

Looks good I think the wise owl salve, you know, made it darker, I think you bleached it plenty-- sometimes people put a white wax on top or just a clear wax, and I don't think it changes the color, at least the white wax will actually make it a little bit lighter, and also seal it, I think everything changes the top wood, if you put a water based polacrylic it would change it a little bit also, a little bit more yellow.

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

You are correct 🤗🤗

[@stampinsueduffy]

It's really pretty, but I agree with you, it's got a little too much yellow again for me. I've watched a couple of other videos and I'm wondering if that's why they don't seal theirs. I love wax, too, and use Annie Sloan on my painted furniture. I would love to experiment on one of the leaves on our solid oak DR furniture. Thank you for this!

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

You are welcome! Thank you for watching 🤗

[@kkabsher4601]

What about using vinegar and water to neutralize the bleach? Looks beautiful.

[@karonwostenholme6533]

Looks great. We'll done x

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Thank you!

[@patb5889]

Think I would go with lime wax to bring g out the white look.But urs looks great.

[@thepaintedsaguaro6938]

Hey sunshine. Great project.

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Hey you!

[@elaine1962]

So pretty!!!!

[@sallysimmons4773]

Thought the idea was to have a whitened wood rather than the typical yellowish wood.

[@melodybecker2309]

Your oak is golden oak!!! If you want a lighter finish then white wash it!!!

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Thank you. I didn’t want to because I was trying to rely on the bleach. But thank you again

[@ambermize8950]

It looks beautiful!

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Thank you

[@amorago]

Bom trabalho. Ficou lindo. Obrigada 😘

[@rondacasey166]

I miss your simple little lives you had before. Is there any chance you might go back to doing them?

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Hey Ronda! I think of doing them all the time. Just having issues with time management mostly… can’t seem to work in the heat.. after baking in the sun at work all day.. tmi. Sorry. I am hopeful to do one tomorrow.. I hope you are there

[@kathrynnewton8721]

The finish always seems to darken it somewhat - I only use my own natural beeswax finish. Thank you it looks great

[@maggiefletcherscuriouscelt4199]

Gorgeous!

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Thanks for watching 🤗😊

[@lesliejohnson7247]

It’s gorgeous. But if you wanted to keep the bleached look, couldn’t you have used white wax?

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Yes, I could have. I was wanting to let the bleach do it by itself. Thank you

[@IslandHeartVintage]

Beautiful!! 🙋‍♀️🌺🌴

[@evolutiondes]

should have gone with poly, clear coat...it locks in the color you got from the bleaching process

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Same conclusion. Thank you

[@teriadukes]

I think the top coat made it look worse. It took away the bleaching look.

[@IslandHeartVintage]

Does the bleach smell go away after it dried?

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

No. I did not notice that

[@shereeclinton8741]

water based sealer rather than wax..

[@paolapaola6945]

i thimk if you use white wax, you have better finish.

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

Thanks

[@abracadabrarefurbishedllc6934]

❤️❤️❤️❤️🎩🎩✌️😊🌹

[@VintageMakeoverswithMelanie]

🤗😊

[@kathleenbrown6734]

whitewash would have kept it whitish not golden. shame cause of all your work.

[@marybronson442]

T