Can it be bleached??

[Tim Johnson]

I have a QSWO dresser that I am refinishing, and am about to begin the re-application of finish, except when I wiped the piece down with MS, I noticed some staining on the top. The stains are not noticeable on the dry wood, but when moistened with MS, they become evident. I've tried more sanding, but haven't made much change in the stains. Most of them appear to be circular, like something was set on the original finish, leaked, and penetrated the wood pores. My question is, can oxalic acid possibly get these stains out without removing the natural wood color. I am planning to first dye the dresser with a WS stain, then seal, apply a gel stain and then apply a finish coat. Any suggestions? Since this is a refinishing job, I don't have some additional material to experiment on to see the effects?
Thanks,

[Dennis Peacock]

Tim,

Oxalic acid can be used and it does work...to a point. I did something like this a while back and it took something like 4 applications to get the stain "faint" enough when wetted that it was hard to tell it was there. Since this is refinishing a piece, i'd just to what I could with the stained areas. If it bleaches the wood around it some? I'd apply a little bleach to the entire top since your are dyeing, sealing, gel staining, and topcoating. This should equalize all parts concerned.

Now you have all I know from my limited experience on this topic. ;)