Can I make a dark wood banister lighter ?
- Thread starter jayjwp
- Start date
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Jacob
New Luddism. Wake up and resist.
Paint
Tris
What am I doing here?
Is it dark wood or a dark finish? Have a scratch in an inconspicuous place and see what you are dealing with, then you'll get a more appropriate solution
Tris
What am I doing here?
The banister, I meant scratch the banister, honest
This sounds like a difficult task as if it’s stained then as per @Tris then yeh hours of sanding and scraping and filling ahead if it’s actually real ( dark wood) then I suspect you will need a chemical to lighten the timber . I’ve used bleach on softwood like pine but not sure how you can do this naturally especially if it’s mahogany or walnut etc ..
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
I only seen this yesterday on a sawmill creek thread
Wendell castles ghost clock.
Not sure how feasible it is though!
mrpercysnodgrass
Established Member
There are a few ways you could go about this. The first step is to remove any existing finish. Depending on whether the timber is naturally dark or whether it is stained and how light you want to go will depend on what you do next. You could wipe on neat domestic bleach, allow it to dry and repeat up to another three times. Rinse with fresh water and allow to dry. If the timber is stained your best bet will be to use oxalic acid. Liberon do a ready mixed solution..... Wood Bleacher: Furniture and Interior Woodwork Repair and Prepare | Liberon wood cares you can repeat this application three or four times, rinse with plenty of fresh water and discard your rags making sure no child or pet can come into contact with them. If it does not bleach after three applications it's not going to work. If your timber is a good Caribbean mahogany that is naturally dark your only option is to use A+B bleach.... FIDDES A & B Bleach - FIDDES. Wear marigold gloves and eye protection, apply the A + B with separate rags, rinse the rags after use then dispose of them. You can repeat this application up to but not more than three times but it should work first time. When the timber is bleached to the desired shade rinse with copious amounts of water and leave uncovered for three days before applying any sort of finish.
I hope this helps.
My wife actually asked for the same a short time ago. I told her it was a massive job which she refused to believe, so she contacted a local painter for a quote. When he came back with a quote for nearly two weeks of work she finally believed me. This was for two flights.
