Will bleaching prevent pine from yellowing?

[Stephen Tashiro]

I've noticed that acrylic varnish doesn't turn (unstained) pine yellow. However, after a year or so, the pine yellows with age even though it is kept indoors and out of the direct sun. Is there a finish that would keep it from yellowing? Would moderate bleaching before finishing keep it from yellowing?

The yellowed look of wood is attractive, but I think that it would be interesting to have some things that didn't yellow.

[Julian Nicks]

It is going to yellow regardless of what you put on the surface.

[Stephen Tashiro]

I tried brushing full strength Clorox on some pine from the hardware store. The wood immediately turned a very bright yellow! The darker, sappier places became the most yellow.

Some detergents have "bluing" to counteract the yellowing of white clothes. Is there some color of stain that I could use that would combine with yellow to produce an interesting color - like a red or a brown?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Try this:

Seal it w/a wash coat of shellac.

1 part 3# cut to 7 parts alcohol.

or

1 part Seal Coat to 3 parts alcohol.

Top coat the wash coat with a soap finish.

Take a bar of Ivory soap and run it across a cheese grater.
Google the rest of the directions for making a soap finish.
All the formulas specify using soap flakes, but, grated Ivory is an ok substitute.

[Howard Acheson]

Woods change color for due to two factors. The UV in sunlight is the major cause but woods also change color due to oxidation or the absorption of oxygen. The latter is a much slower process but will cause wood color change in a totally dark closet.

On another point, chlorine bleach (Clorox) is used to remove the color imparted by dye stains. It will have no bleaching effect on wood. The bleach that removes the natural color from wood is a two-part A/B bleach. Oxalic acid is another wood working bleach used to remove mineral stains such as water and metal stains.