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Looking for advice re best safe method (if at all possible).let me explain.
An elderly lady friend had a large tree cut down leaving a 7 ft stump .She then paid a gentleman £300 to do a magnificent carving of a barn owl on the top.Took the chap 11/2 hrs with mainly a chainsaw so a good hourly rate but he was quite famous apparently and had to travel.Anyhow ..the owl stood out very well when freshly cut but has ,in the 6 months since, become browned with weathering,sap etc which may sound nice but she preferred it whiter.She recently asked me to scrub with bleach which had little effect so I then tried oven cleaner for a short while but again it made little impression.
I have some oxalic acid crystals which I may try next ...perhaps made into a paste and will see how that goes.I've heard you can buy 2 pack wood bleaches but have no experience with them ...Do you think they would be the way to go ?
I really don't want to risk damaging the carving for obvious reasons.
Your advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Bill
Have you thought about using bleach?
Or Borax solution?
Yes tried bleach but not borax
bleach can work but you will need to soak it.
I’m sure you can lighten the wood, but it’s pointless, because it’s outdoors and the wood will weather and age, and get darker, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it happening.
If it had been cut off at the base and taken indoors, then it would likely have stayed light coloured, but weather darkens all wood.
Just think of it as a mature tawny owl!
Paint it white?
eta ^ 👍🏼
Might be worth looking into something called paint? I think its available in white.
Careful how hard you rub.
Might start to look like a horses heed.
Sodium hypochlorite will bleach anything and everything. That includes you.
Cheap in big quantities from farm suppliers.
Will clean it, but Allah (now that God is banned) alone knows what it will do to the wood.
Easy way is to get it shot blasted. 😀
You could try Lime Sulphur, it’s used in bonsai to bleach dead wood!
Oxalic acid crystals will do the job.
2nd for lime sulphur. I used to use it when bleaching driftwood and jiins in bonsai.
Apparently this statement was not true.
My statement?
don't know whose statement he means !.. I tried oxalic acid mix but it didn't do much ..maybe needed more time. The oven/drain cleaner with sodium hydroxide does seem to work however but needs leaving . I applied some and after a couple of hours thought it wasn't doing anything . when I came back days later the area had indeed lightened considerably.
I bet you’ve put more time into it than the bloke who carved it 😂