Liberon Wood Bleacher

[Dancie]

Inspired by the work of such people as Sally Burnett I thought that I might have a go at bleaching wood, probably Sycamore or Ash.

I’ve noticed that there have been previous comments and forum chains on this subject and I have read through most of them.

My question is that I notice that Liberon make a Wood Bleacher, has anyone used this?

Is it any better or different to house hold bleach?

Is it the wrong stuff to use and its really only meant for rust stains etc – any advice would be fully appreciated.

[Wood spinner]

I would be intrested in the reply to this question 

[fuzzyturns]

I don't know anything about the Liberon product, but I can tell you that the normal household stuff needs to be used with care. I tried to bleach a piece of holly, which was a bit greyish. First attempt (1 hour) mad hardly any difference. Second attempt (2 hours), still little effect. Third attempt was 6 hours and started to show signs. Forth attempt was 24 hours and showed good progress, but still not white. Fifth attempt stretched over 2 days solid. The holly was still not white, especially in the nooks it was still quite grey, but by now the wood itself started to disintegrate to the point where I had to throw the turned piece away.

[Paul Hannaby]

I tried the Liberon stuff and it didn't have much of an effect. The two part bleaches are much more effective.

[pink]

As my name was mentioned in the first post I thought that I would chip in 
I have not used the Liberian product yet - my pieces are bleached with Vitableach which is a two part system. It needs to be used with care as part 2 can burn and the room should be well ventilated. Int is supplied with excellent instructions.
This product does have a limited shelf life (best used within 1 month of purchase), even if kept unopened as part 2 has a breathable cap. I bleach primarily sycamore and I have found that no two trees yield the same result so it can be a bit hit and miss. Smith and Rogers who make Vitableach are very helpful if you have any technical problems.

[Dancie]

Hello Sally (pink),

I noticed on your facebook page that you use Vitableach - the size of the container, the price and the shelf life put me off so I wondered what the Liberon product was like.

I'll probably only do one or two pieces and the rest of the Vitableach would be wasted unless I fell in love with the effect.

Thanks also to Paul and fuzzy for your input its very much appreciated.

However, I'm not sure what my next step will be.

[farmerphil]

Go for it if you are, not surprisingly,inspired by Pink's work.

So vistableach is a layout of £35 or thereabouts but why not do a batch and either do a series of your own work or share some of the wood with another turner.

Good luck and have fun and don't look to me if you feel as though you wasted your money.

Regards

Phil

[georg]

  Although we have used Vitableach for a few years now and had great results, was looking on the John Penny site earlier while
  searching for something else and came across this
  they have 500ml ultra bleach A £3-50   and  500ml ultra bleach B £5-95

  But Must Say We Have Never Used This One...... www.jpennyltd.co.uk
 
  Kind Regards Tony di
 
 

[malcy]

I have some Rustins two part bleach from Amazon. Will be trying this soon and report back. Hopefully it will give similar results. I have found that the Liberon bleach is not very effective in making Sycamore or Holly white. Hopefully this two part material will give better results. Malcolm.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

As the H&S guy for the AWGB I have to chip in and say whatever you decide to use please read the instructions on the containers and please use protective equipment during use. I will also add that once you have bleached a piece be aware of the dust. Turning safely allows you to turn for longer.

[Les Symonds]

I carried out a little experiment about 2 years ago. Starting with a single piece of oak burr, I cut it into four pieces. Three became orbs which were scorched black and lime-waxed, the fourth piece was bleached to form a base...the idea being to show the level of contrast possible in the finishes of identical pieces of timber.
For bleaching, I simply bought a large bottle of household bleach (Parazone, if I recall), soaked the base overnight in a tray, such that it was immersed with a brick on it to hold it down. The next day I removed it, dried it out for a couple of days, sanded it off then repeated the process.....here's the result.

Les

[malcy]

Well here are the results of my bleaching experiment using Rustins two part bleach system. Part A is applied and left for 15-20 minutes and then part B is applied and left for 2 hours before being rinsed. I have used pieces of Sycamore, Holly and Maple. The area marked 0 is the bare wood. The area marked 1 has one application and the area marked 2 has had two applications of the system. You can see from the picture that any application has a whitening effect, and two applications even more so particularly on the Sycamore although the Holly is pretty good too. Each piece has a small section cut out on the bandsaw to see what the penetration is like. Difficult to see but probably about no more than 1mm. I shall be using this on a project in the near future to whiten some Sycamore. Hope this helps. Malcolm.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

I remember dipping stuff in caustic soda years ago, it would give a bleached effect but more importantly at the time it evened out the colour of the wood. Perhaps it was just bleached but it still had some colour and grain definition to it. We would dip old furniture (which sometimes fell apart) but it also had a dye in so that whatever age the furniture virtually always came up looking like old dipped pine, even the brand new stuff. A coat of black bison and it was 200 years old!!

[Dancie]

Many thanks to all, especially Malcolm and Les - I'll have a go in the next few weeks and if any good I'll post something on this forum

[Lazurus]

Oxalic acid, cheap as chips and very effective, cleans my GRP boat well to.