Wood Mold: Any hope?

[Tim Allaire]

I have newly aquired walnut that has been milled and stacked but without spacers. Some of the boards have green mold on them (which looks superficial). THey have only been stacked for two or so months this way. Can they be saved? Other than putting stickers in between so they can get air, what can I do? Suggestions

Tim

[Tim Allaire]

Obviously, nobody has had this problem before?

[Sam Yerardi]

I wouldn't think that the mold should be a problem. If it is surface-mold, you can try any number of different cleaners or solvents such as mineral spirits or V&PM naptha but even that's a bit strong. Don't use bleach.

Mold can only continue to grow if it has food source (the wood) AND there is a source of moisture. Even if the mold extends down into the wood due to excessive mositure content I wouldn't expect it to be a terminal problem.

[Greg Cole]

Tim,
I've had a few different species of rough cut sticks with more fuzz on them than from the bandsaw mill. Mostly black moldy looking stuff that had no affect on the lumber after milling.....

Greg

[Joe Chritz]

You could also lay them out and hit them with a pressure washer then stack them correctly to air dry.

I doubt it will hurt anything inside the board unless it is really bad.

Joe

[Peter Quinn]

Perhaps wash them in a dilute TSP solution? Shouldn't affect the color but it will kill the mold. I've seen some very moldy(green fuzz) rough walnut whose final appearance was unaffected. Mold seems to be more of a problem with lighter species like maple or white oak.

I think walnut is toxic enough to keep most things from growing on, in or around it. I'd guess the mold wont get far into the wood in any event.

[Leon Jester]

I'd wipe each board down with mineral spirits and a green scrubbie pad, re-stack with stickers.

The mineral spirits will evaporate as any other liquid, but it'll pretty much kill everything it touches, bugs, bug eggs included.

A 1:10 solution of household bleach will kill the mould, don't know what it'd do to the lumber colour.

[Kev Godwin]

Tim,
A common cleaning agent will address that problem and is used extensively in various manufacturing industries to prevent mold/fungal development on wood and other building materials - Sodium Tetraborate Decahydrate. AKA - "20 Mule-Team Borax".

If you wipe the boards down with a slurry of this cleaning agent, the residue will prevent any further mold development. Many building construction products are also manufactured with this product as an additive to prevent various fungal growths. Very low cost and has many other shop cleaning uses. Dial Corp. is the most available producer.
Kev