Carpentry and Woodworking - Will bleach take off old stain

Doityourself.com community forum was created to provide answers to all questions related to home improvement and home repair. Doityourself community can help you find information about how-to topics on small fixes to large remodeling projects. With comprehensive how-to content and expertly moderated community forums DoItYourself.com makes it easy to tackle even the most complex home improvement projects.




View Full Version : Will bleach take off old stain


BOB1934
07-13-05, 04:37 AM
I have used a paste paint remover and it has removed the poply (?) coat and a lot of the stain.If I use a bleach on the wood,would it remove some more of the stain. The problem is that I have to change some of the wood (this is with my sliding door) and I'm going to change the stain .So I'm trying to remove as much of the old stain as possible,so after the new stain it looks the same.Sanding isnt removing that much of stain.I had applied three coats of stain,didnt think the Pella doors would rot in 7-8 years. Any help welcome.


mako
07-13-05, 05:29 PM
I doubt bleach will give you any kind of look you want. It will oxidize the stain, but I don't know what that would look like since most wood stains are oil/petroleum based and most shirt stains are condiment-based. Think of how poorly bleach removes motor oil stains.

It will also oxidize your wood and you're back to square one with sanding. I think there are some stain removers out there, but I've never used them. Powersanding has always worked for me quite well.

If you have a power sander, try it with something very aggressive, like 80 grit, maybe even 60. Work your way up, 80, 100, and 120, and 150 for a real nice look. If you don't have a power sander and can get one, I *****highly**** recommend a random-orbit sander, specifically either a DeWalt or Makita (don't need the biggest one out there). They aren't the cheapest things, but they are fantastic at quick wood stripping for something like this. I use a Makita all the time in our cabinet shop. For really heavy stripping I use a belt sander but it's easy to gore up the wood if you're not careful.


BTW, if you're wanting a wood that is quite rot resistant, call local hardwood stores (not Lowes, doubtful they'll carry this) and look for the following, whichever is in your price range (in order of the best to last). You'll have to cut and mill it up to the proper size if you have the equipment, but they will last a lot longer than your standard woods.

White oak (NOT RED OAK)
Black Locust (hard to find, but usually not pricey)
Cypress
Luan/Lauan (NOT THE PLYWOOD, only hardwood)

You can stain Luan to look nearly identical to mahogany, the grain is very, very similar.

chfite
07-14-05, 09:01 PM
If the stripper has removed some of the stain, apply it again to try to remove more of the stain. This will work better than bleaching the wood. Wood bleach is for stains such as from iron nails in oak or to balance colors. The stain that is applied to wood as part of the finishing process will respond better to the chemical stripper. You could use bleach after all the stain is removed and the wood neutralized to try to balance any differences in color of the wood.

Hope this helps.


jafo
07-16-05, 09:11 PM
minwax has a product called polyshield it is a combo of stain and poly in one can it go's on thin and you must apply several coat to get the full body of color you seek and if you ask a paint Rep they will tell you that it's more like a paint than a stain however it was developed to stain metal doors so that they had the look of wood. That may be a option if you don't want to sand any more. Just make sure to get the exterior if your doing the outside. hope that helps.