MAKING 2-Part Wood Bleach (DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE!) // B4 We Make Things

Wood bleaching is a way to make some projects beautiful and essential if you plan on dying (my opinion). But sometimes it's hard to find and you don't get a lot for the money. Let me show you how I make your own 2-part wood bleach on the cheap...and we'll even see how it bleaches 16 different species of wood.
This is the first in my new series "B4 We Make Things". Please let me know if you enjoyed it as I have a lot of ideas going forward!
PDF cheat sheet I mentioned: makethingswith...
Checkerboard showcasing this method: • Checker Board Using 2 ...
Check out my Patreon!: / makethings
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[@Dr.Scorpio]

I have seen way many videos on how to bleach wood. I must say that this is the BEST video and it explains a lot. Thanks a million 👌🏼👏🏼

[@MakeThings]

Thank you, I appreciate it!

[@FixitFingers]

As a professional chemist and an unprofessional woodworker I approve of this video.👍👍👍

[@MakeThings]

Haha, really? I'd always imagine you to be a college professor...wait, are you a college chemistry professor? 😜

[@FixitFingers]

@@MakeThings I spent 10 years in science communication. Does that count? 😅

[@MakeThings]

@@FixitFingers Haha, yes it does. You're very good at communicating!

[@skigglystars9525]

A chemistry lesson I was not expecting. You have a brilliant mind only surpassed by a sharing heart.

[@MakeThings]

I'm so glad you're here, you always give me a big smile. Check out the video that goes with this one on my "Let's Make Things" channel. I think it is far more cool what you can do with a good chemistry set 😂

[@laurascotthomes]

So I was a Chemistry Teacher and we mixed these products frequently. Thanks for the complete video where you give proportions and tell people how to mix up NaOH (sodium hydroxide or lye). I had to hunt for the lye at Home Depot and 30 % Peroxide at the pool store ( Baquicil Oxidizer). I like the fact you showed 3 parts in case you have to neutralize. I probably would not store these

[@jerebeck2064]

I'll ask you - since I can't contact Rob: Why does he wait for part A to dry, before applying part B? Would it not be more effective if both sets of molecules are wet? (Assume wearing a vapor mask + being outdoors).

[@paulbriggs3072]

@@jerebeck2064 You can mix them but it has to be used at that time from what I've seen in other videos.

[@twobluestripes]

@@jerebeck2064’m wondering if it’s possibly to allow the sodium hydroxide to penetrate the wood fibers deeply and evenly, to get a result where the wood is not bleached only at the surface? I have used 2 part wood bleach before (when sold as a set labeled as such) and didn’t wait for the first part to dry before applying the second. But the advantage of having the bleaching sink deeper into the thickness of the board is that the surface can be re-sanded afterwards if desired. This process may raise the grain quite a bit, even if the grain was pre-raised in the initial sanding process, depending on what finishes will follow, it might be nice to be able to go over it gently again after bleaching.

[@TK-setophaga]

Really good video. Bleaching makes a lot of sense because it lets me get the color of finish that I need. Without bleaching, it's harder to get the right color finish because the wood has it's own color. Plus the unbleached wood changes color over time. I put this vid in my saved box to look at before finishing projects. Thank you

[@MakeThings]

My pleasure...I completely agree with you. There are some interesting colors you can make with bleached wood.

[@katsiamapoisoning786]

Thank you so much. The commercial brand isn't even available. I was looking for instructions with specific ratios and included a safety component. This is perfect. Thanks.

[@MakeThings]

My pleasure...I hope this works for you. I'm very happy with how it came out.

[@MarkMcCluney]

Fascinating and educational. I particularly like the tip about negating the effect of splashes of caustic soda, that's very helpful indeed. Thanks Rob, great to see you on the air again.

[@MakeThings]

Thank you so much Mark! And thank you for taking time to send me emails from time to time...they help keep me motivated!

[@flowersafeheart]

Thank you for taking time to make this!

[@wb_finewoodworking]

Great experiment Rob and very well done. I’ll check out your other video to see why you wanted to bleach wood. For me, due to my age, bleaching wood reminds me of the 1950s furniture. Since it’s becoming popular and they are now calling it “Mid-century Modern” maybe people will make some furniture using your bleaching method.

[@MakeThings]

This started out as a side video for the main video I was making, but I thought it was an interesting enough topic on it's own. The next video will be about using dyes, which all sprang up from the dyes with my gear stool that I used. I agree, I love the look of wood the way it is. I don't even like staining or adding finish because all of times it diminishes the wood. Then again, those gears really look great and I figured we could play around with the topic. Always glad to see you Don!

[@MCsCreations]

Pretty interesting indeed, Rob! 😃 I'm going to watch the other video now! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@MakeThings]

Thanks MC, very much appreciate it!

[@Nadellart]

Hello very nice vide thanks for your share. I have a question on how to dispose of properly and store items used in the process of the lye.such as sponges

[@JohntheSchreiner]

Interesting results. The Purple Heart was most surprising to me.

[@Thom4123]

Very cool results, great information!! Thank You

[@MakeThings]

Thanks Thom! It was a lot of fun.

[@W_Sushi]

Thank you for the tutorial! It's so hard to find the commercial bleach recently so this is amazing. Question about Part 3: what kind of vinegar are you using, the eatable ones or the industrial ones? I own a bottle of 30% vinegar, wonder if I need to water down more. TIA!

[@rgucci8172]

Great tutorial! Thanks

[@glengarbera7367]

This would work on black mold as well i bet

[@amgoodw]

Have you done this on mahogany wood? If so please advise on how it turned out 🙏🙏🙏 many thanks 😊 🙏 and much appreciated 🙏🙏🙏

[@mh5783]

Thank you! I plan to use this on a cherry dresser which I oiled (many years ago). It of course turned a deep cherry color which I've never liked I would like to lighten it - but do you have any suggestions for then giving it a bit of a grey color (same with an oak project). FWIW I used a combo of nails soaked in vinegar and coffee to pull the tannins out of the oak, and then went back and whitewashed it with old-fashioned lime, the kind you use to whitewash fences. They came out looking beautifully aged - problem was that on some I used a vinegar-coffee recipe that was too strong, so I have to go back and remove the color.

[@jeremyshuler926]

I’m doing a floor, can I just mix a and b so I don’t need to apply it separately?

[@Sara-hq7gg]

I want an unfinished look on my wood floors after I bleach them. I have read that the tannins in the wood can react with the water based polyurethane and its best to put a "base" coat between my unfinished wood and the polyurethane coats. However, I am having trouble finding what they mean by "base". Is this a stain? Thank you!

[@PouyaNia]

Thank you for this! Do you think I can get away with just using hydrogen peroxide? Would I see any results?

[@baileejaydee]

Hello! Is there anything other than vinegar I can use to neutralise before varnishing? I’ve noticed on both my oak pieces I’ve done this on there’s zero yellowing until I neutralise with the vinegar solution!

[@Follows-ed7mw]

I tried this on a piece of red oak and while it had a powerful whiting effect it left a strong yellow color in areas. Would love to learn how to deal with this outcome.

[@MakeThings]

Have you tried different pieces? It might just be the base color on parts of oak.

[@sumosprojects]

Geez mate, bit of weird science going on here but pretty interesting seeing the end results 😜👏👍👍👍

[@MakeThings]

Haha...if only I could get Kelly LeBrock to have assisted me! 😍 Thanks so much my friend!

[@PaulineRobidoux-z8j]

Hi Thanks for these specific instructions! I was not able to download your PDF for some reason. I'm going to use this method on Mahogany. I only found 12% Hydrogen Peroxide. What happens if I use this lower%. Thanks

[@kerryb3425]

How would you go about doing this to walnut hardwood floors for a good even consistency?

[@babaljaza5389]

Thank you

[@patrickshine9621]

You're using 1oz sodium hydroxide by weight or 1oz by volume?

[@jgorfine]

I can't not find the liquid oxidizer anywhere around me at any of the pool supply stores. The stores only have the granular oxidizer, am I able to use that if I mix it in water?

[@xdshooter1]

Great video. Do you think this process will take out the yellowing out of white oak? Thanks

[@twobluestripes]

I’ve used 2 part wood bleach to bleach white oak before, on an unfinished cabinet door before applying a dye to achieve a pale shade of green. It depends on what the yellowing on your white oak is from. If your white oak has an old finish on it, that finish may be what’s causing the yellowing (shellac, lacquer, linseed oil, and natural resin varnishes are all traditional finishes that “amber” with age), and you should remove the finish and scrape or sand the wood bare to see the original color (or close to it). If the white oak is unfinished or has a non-yellowing finish and has turned golden only with age, oxalic acid wood bleach may help, as it’s said to help brighten wood back to it’s color when new (undo photoaging/uv damage). However, you should research how to use it (some sources say to let it dry on the wood, some say to spray water to keep it wet because the dry crystals are difficult to rinse away) and neutralize it afterwards (I think people rinse with baking soda), because acid remaining in the wood can degrade the fibers and eat at any finish you apply later. There’s a product called Wood ReNew which is reportedly better than oxalic for de-aging wood, and it’s “percarbonate-based”, which makes me wonder if trying Oxiclean or a similar sodium percarbonate oxygen bleach might be worth a go for de-aging wood. It neutralizes on its own as it works, I believe, just like straight hydrogen peroxide does, and is very eco friendly as a result.

[@melissahill7809]

Help! Oak table very yellow after bleaching. Will the yellow be bleached out eventually with more applications? Thanks!

[@twobluestripes]

I don’t know if you kept going, but i bleached a white oak cabinet door, and while it was pretty yellow after the first application, I found it got less yellow as it got lighter with the 2nd application. I was going to dye it a pale sage green, so i made sure to keep my green leaning towards the blue side of the hue I wanted, because the lacquer I applied as a top coat will also amber eventually.

[@Bella7bella]

Is it safe to use on furniture vs the raw wood, i have an antique birds eye maple secretary that is a nutmeg color but i want it as white/light as possible but i dont want the wood to swell so im wondering what would happen if i spray this on it

[@paulbriggs3072]

Was hoping to see Western Red cedar but never the less, useful. You could probably neutralize with baking soda and water since vinegar itself changes wood color a bit and reverses the ph to acidic.

[@twobluestripes]

I’ve sampled 2 part wood bleach not on cedar, but on redwood, and had pretty drastic results!

[@paulbriggs3072]

@@twobluestripes Good to know. Thank-you.

[@tortron]

Have a brown stained dresser. All sanded down and looking nice white oak. Brushed on the sodium hydroxide solution and it's gone dark brown again lmao. I assume the sodium hydroxide opens up the pores and let the hidden stain back out

[@ElTelBaby]

Um... I missed what type of Vinegar...? From the label @ 2:56... am I read it right;... White Vinegar...

[@MakeThings]

Yep, distilled white vinegar. Probably could use apple cider vinegar, but you'd most definitely add a smidgen of color.

[@Richard-dh8ny]

I suspect you were working with White Pine. Yellow Pine has a better reaction to bleaching.

[@MakeThings]

I actually showed all the different woods I used in the video. Purpleheart stood out the most for its dramatic reaction to bleaching, which was quite surprising!

[@Richard-dh8ny]

Sorry for the confusion, but I was simply making a remark about your comment that the pine sample showed little to no change.

[@MakeThings]

@@Richard-dh8ny Oh shoot...my bad, I'm sorry! You're right, I don't remember pine doing much of anything Richard.

[@Amy-oy5hk]

Great video! How does this fair on mahogany? I planned to pick up some “Salon Care 40 Volume Clear Developer” from the beauty supply store tomorrow. As I had seen another DIY video using this. I’m not sure how much peroxide is in it exactly, other than it says it’s “40 volume” it’s inexpensive at Sally’s Beauty Supply here in Utah @ $7.69 for 32oz. Ingredients state-WATER ,HYDROGEN PEROXIDE ,PHOSPHORIC ACID only. Any reason why I would not want to give this a go?

[@benbaldwin8882]

40 Volume developer is 12% hydrogen peroxide.

[@Amy-oy5hk]

@@benbaldwin8882 thanks for the info!!

[@marilynsgt8]

Dont be fooled by the 40. It’s still not much of a %. Pool store for the win.

[@taylorpell2381]

Can you dilute pharmacy hydrogen peroxide safely to use for this?

[@SujMenon]

Rob, this experiment should have been in Breaking Bad 😜. Pretty effective 👍😁

[@MakeThings]

Haha, thanks Suj. It definitely had that feel!

[@SunsetRacer]

Heisenberg: yes. You are hired

[@HomeFromFarAway]

the intense yellow of the background wood makes it very hard to see the comparisons. everything kinda looks yellow. Artists use a neutral grey bacgroud to mix paints accurately so maybe you could add a photo of all these on a grey background so we can see what's actually going on

[@KVASavannah]

Why not use oxalic acid?

[@MakeThings]

Great question. From a website that sells Oxalic Acid: "When exploring how to bleach wood, you probably encountered other options such as two-part wood bleaches and wondered what the difference is between them and Oxalic Acid. The main difference is that Oxalic Acid returns wood surfaces to their original color or natural hue, while two-part bleaches typically lighten the wood all over. Additionally, two-part bleaches also remove color from many pigments and dyes, not just the wood it’s used upon." www.realmilkpaint.com/help/tutorials/how-to-bleach-wood-with-oxalic-acid/

[@frankaiello2149]

Can 20% Hydrogen Peroxide work? I can't find 27% where I am in Florida

[@bullfrogpondshop3179]

Hey, recent subscriber here. I've enjoyed your innovative and ingenious solutions to common woodworking tasks! But I have to say, your camera work leaves a lot to be desired. Many of your videos suffer from poor lighting, subject out of frame, and/or you're not close enough to the subject to show important fine details. Probably the worst issue is the color; the image is almost always too yellow. I've noticed it before in your other videos, but it's glaringly obvious in this video dealing with wood colors. For example, at 6:28 the walnut looks like salmon. At 6:34 the cherry is exactly the same color as your plywood table. There's a setting on your camera called White Balance, which I'm almost certain is the culprit. I'd suggest you look into that in your camera's manual or online. Thanks, and keep up the great ideas!

[@MakeThings]

Thanks for the suggestions. The plywood table was bleached so many times that it does look white, like the dyed cherry. I have several walnut samples in my garage and they all seem to be different hues of brown (especially the cheap stuff I got that I think is mostly sapwood). I use a lot of LUT's in my videos, which is a big secret of mine. Because the raw footage is dull and bland, I use those LUTs to give it more color. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. I tried to use a new LUT that works great outdoors (see my Gear Stool video) but this one might not have been best for this. As far as camera work...if you saw what makes my garage really looked like, you would understand why I try to hide so much of it. I stopped talking in the front of the camera when I got sick of hearing people tell me I look like I'm constipated haha. Thanks for the comment.

[@jackt6112]

I wonder how that would work to get out pet pee stains out of a hardwood floor after I sanded and realized pet pee stains all the way through the board.

[@MakeThings]

yikes!

[@ulasautomotivellc9874]

hydrogen peroxide ca30%? where to buy it? anyone knows?

[@tortron]

I got some from a commercial cleaning supplier

[@laine241]

Attempted to use this method however was unable to get same results. I believe the hydrogen peroxide i ordered was expired. Purchased same one the video showed. 🤷‍♀️

[@prozack1312]

“Do as you outta and add acid to water”

[@ishimuraprojects6712]

So it is basically Breaking Bad but with a wood maker

[@secularsunshine9036]

*Let the Sunshine In.* The Sun way up high in the sKy... . thanks

[@bradroon5538]

I get 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide from my health food store. I've gotten 29% from an Ag supply stores.

[@MakeThings]

I'm going to have to look into that. I never thought to look at either places. Thanks Brad.

[@bradroon5538]

@@MakeThings You're more than welcome. I've seldom bleached wood, and work almost exclusively with American species with my most exotic being fruit woods or nut trees. MAN! Almond is DENSE! Plum also, but it almost always has a million twisting checks that cross virtually every piece you cut. Manzanita and madrone fade a LOT after cutting. When I lived in West Virginia, my 40 acres had 53 species of trees and I used to have a sawmill, too. Wild cherry. Hop Hornbeam. Dogwood that was 10" in diameter. 5 types of hickory. 3 ash. Beech. American Hornbeam. 7 oaks. 3 maples...

[@MakeThings]

@@bradroon5538 Incredible...I never would have left that!

[@bradroon5538]

@@MakeThings The universe and gods said go. My wife was the breadwinner and so I had to make an incredible homestead (don't get me wrong, I loved those 20 years without electricity) from a stick and a rock. We couldn't keep up the fence, so the milk cow would go 1/4 mile up to the ridge. That's a 14 mile road trip. The draft horse kept breaking the harness to the point of worthlessness. It really was time to leave. My biggest wood regrets? I'd milled an apple trunk that was straight for over 20 feet with a diameter of 12 inches. I'd had them air dried and cut to oversize for 4 Suffolk spinning wheels. I had a stack of 14 quarter sawn tulip poplar soundboards ,- the second best North American wood for that, and I had a woodshed of wild cherry boards of 1"+ and from 8_14 inches wide. Figured I'd swap it out in the future, but it would be dry...

[@tothetrail]

Anyone else have any sources for the hydrogen peroxide? I've had no luck with Pool Supply, Ag Supply, or Health Food stores California. Strongest on Amazon is 12%. Other than that, the best I could find was $50 for a gallon of 34% online, but will take forever to be shipped.

[@samwise098]

Temperature measurements: Celsius or Fahrenheit?

[@Ace-zb5xr]

If you can't deduce that from looking at the number and then at the liquid, it doesn't matter, this is not for you.

[@MakeThings]

Fahrenheit...it gets hot! At 212 F it would be boiling.