Cleaning Mold Off Logs

Advice on removing surface mold from logs. January 25, 2010

Question
I have several small white pine logs peeled and ready for the kiln. The problem is they've been ready too long now. There is green mold (or maybe pollen?) on the bottom sides of all of them. My guess would be to use a pressure washer... Any suggestions?

Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From contributor J:
I had the same problem with logs (112 red pine) I peeled for a log cabin. It was a very wet year and the logs were in a log landing with heavy canopy cover. I finally moved them to a sunny spot and got them about two feet off of the ground. I used a solution of regular Clorox bleach and water to spray on the logs. They cleaned up nicely but did grey a bit.



From Professor Gene Wengert, forum technical advisor:
You can kill and remove the surface mold with bleach. It may change the color. If the wood is still wet, the mold can come back. Moldy wood may exist in the interior.

Trisodium phosphate is suggested for scrubbing mold off of a surface, but follow directions as you do not want to mix it with bleach.