Thursday, January 6, 2011

Woodworking Projects - Removing Mildew From Your Lumber

Just like everything in life sometimes your woodworking projects can get put off and delayed. Nothing is worse that when you finally get around to starting and you find mildew stains on your lumber. Even easy woodworking projects can become a nightmare. I'm going to give you some advice on how to best avoid stains on your project lumber and how to best remove the stain.

How you store the wood is obviously the biggest factor in whether or not you end up with mold and mildew on your wood surfaces. Storing lumber for your woodworking projects indoors is your best bet whenever possible. If you must store it outside cover the wood with a blanket or old sheet that will allow air movement and won't trap the moisture. Then loosely cover that with a plastic tarp or cover. Do not make this plastic outer cover tight you want it to be loose, not tight. The plastic should keep rain from getting to the blankets covering the wood.

If you do end up with mildew on the lumber you plan to use for your woodworking projects removing it does not have to be a difficult job and can be accomplished with items you probably already have in your home. Start with a solution of 1 part dish washing liquid to 10 parts of regular household bleach and 30 parts of warm water. You will want to work in a well ventilated area and wear rubber gloves while working with the solution you have just created. Use the solution along with a soft bristle blue to scrub away the mildew on the wood surface. You should scrub gently. Then rinse the cleaned area with clean water and towel dry it. Once the wood has dried thoroughly you can sand off and grain that is raised. I hope this article was useful and you can put this into use when pulling out older lumber to use in your woodworking projects.

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Article Submitted On: September 11, 2010

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