Zinsser 300451 Wood Bleach, Part A and B, 8 Ounce (Pack of 2)

I had some red oak lying around and used it for a tabletop project. I wanted a white stain to match the surroundings. I saw a post about mixing white and green stain, but it still turned out very pink. I had only applied the stain to the bottom of the tabletop as a test. I did some more research and read about "wood bleaching." I decided to give this a try on the top. Long story short, I am amazed at how well and how easily this system worked. With the Red Oak, the red/pink hue was removed, and the wood now has a very blonde hue. It worked so well that I stripped the underside and bleached it.

(Note: Not sure why Amazon is asking me to rate the "sheerness" of a chemical product, so I left that one blank.) For whatever reason, wood bleach of any description is extremely difficult to find right now -- at least in the U.S. Apparently it's everywhere in Canada -- go figure. Most Canadian dealers, however, will not sell this product to you if you live in the States, so I was pleased to find it available on Amazon. This is the real stuff -- wood bleach. It will actually remove the natural color from most woods. You will find many people who tell you that you can bleach wood with regular laundry (chlorine) bleach, or oxalic acid. Maybe under certain ideal circumstances you can, but I've always found that those methods will remove -stains- from wood, but not much (or any) of the natural color. Also, oxalic acid is extremely toxic, and I'd rather not have to use it. This stuff will. It's the real deal. Two solutions, one of concentrated sodium hydroxide, and the other of concentrated hydrogen peroxide. Yes, there are some hazards with these chemicals, but if you follow instructions and wear appropriate gear (goggles, rubber gloves, filter mask) and take reasonable care, you will be fine. This works on all wood, although the effect is more pronounced on some wood than on others. I used it on red oak -- which it basically bleached to white oak, and also on mahogany, where the effect was more subtle, but still notable. If it doesn't bleach enough on the first pass, you can repeat the application and get a lighter shade on the second go. One pass worked on the oak; I needed two to get the shade I wanted on the mahogany. Each application cycle takes overnight, until everything is dry. Although I did find that you can accelerate this process somewhat with a heat gun. If you need to bleach a large area, you may want to look into whether this comes in larger containers, given the price. Since I was working on small objects, this package was just the right size, and the cost was reasonable for my application.

Giving it a four for poor directions and lack of information from the manufacturer. Wipe off the foam!!!!! - I was refinishing an old red oak dresser I got for free from a barn. I stripped the piece to bare wood and sanded with 80 grit. I put on my first coat on the drawers and there was a lot of foam in the corners. I neglected to wipe the foam off and it left blotches that even a second coat couldn't get out. It bleached the piece, but you can still see where the areas of foam bleached deeper and I couldn't get it to even up with a second application or sanding. The directions don't discuss foaming. I put both chemicals on with a cheap nylon brush and wiped with a couple simple sponges. Be sure to wipe it even and wipe away foam as you're applying. The top turned out better than the drawers (but I did the top after I did the drawers. And I wiped the foam back on the top.) There were areas of white grit after it dried, they sanded out easy except for the foamy areas. The top finished beautifully, the drawers ... I did the best I could. Probably should have tried a darker stain but I wanted the tawny color. 🤷🏽‍♀️

UPDATE: The process has been completed. I must say, I’m very impressed. Before and after photos show it all after just one application. Great product! Updated with extra photos. The last two photos are a before (technically during the very beginning) and after. The two front legs are shown side by side for comparison of the color difference. That is the actual dark color of the wood of that one leg as seen in that very first full chair photo. I had forgotten to take a side by side pic while it was dry, and only remembered after I had just applied the bleach treatment. It looks like a dark varnish because it is wet, but that was actually the mismatched dark color of that one leg. The final pic was taken the following day after the bleach process ran overnight. Simple and very effective product. Would absolutely recommend! :D I found a set of 4 Adrian Pearsall Dining chairs at a yardsale a couple years ago for an absolutely dirt cheap $10. They had been painted over numerous times in their lifetime and apparently reseated and/or at least reupholstered, but looked serviceable enough to attempt a rescue. After stripping the thick tan paint and original dark finish off the first chair, I found a beautiful honey-blonde mahogany under all that goop. Things were looking really good for the final outcome of this chair and got me excited to work on the rest, until I got to the left-front leg. That leg was an oddball mismatch of a significantly darker color than the rest of the honey-blonde wood. I put an extra coat of stripper on the leg, but that made no difference;this was the color of the wood. There's no doubt that it came from the factory like this, and I guess they figured, "use it, it's gonna have a dark finish over it anyway, who's gonna know?" I did some research, and talked with ppl in forums, and decided to attempt to bleach this leg to a closer match to the rest of the wood rather that stain all that great honey-blonde mahogany darker to match. Last night I did just a quarter sized q-tip spot test on the inside just to see, and there was a noticeable difference even within a few hours, so I decided to get one face and the edges started this afternoon. So far, things are looking good. Applied by pouring on just a little puddle of bottle A and smearing it around with a paintbrush, let it sit for about 7 minutes, then did the same using bottle B. Now it just sits. Currently awaiting the results which might take a while, but I'll update with more pics and results. Original: I’ve only just spot tested this for the moment, but after just 2 hours, there’s a significant difference in the color of the wood I’m trying to lighten. I’ll update with before and after pics and description once I get the process going. So far though, very pleased with the test outcome.

This worked well to remove a lot of the red in the wood, however it was difficult to get the stain to take evenly where I used it.