by Professor Gene Wengert
Q.
I have 2000 bd ft of ponderosa pine that has a black/blue stain all the way through it from improper stacking and drying. The wood was stickered but stacked too closely together to allow enough circulation. Is there any way to remove the stain?
A.
I suspect that the stain you mention in the pine lumber (caused by excessively slow drying) is the result of the blue stain fungi, which actually has more dark blue than light blue color. This fungi is colored, rather than a stain of the wood itself, which results in the stain that you see.
You can try to bleach the fungi with a weak to moderate water and Clorox bleach (or similar) solution, taking all necessary safety precautions, including eye protection, skin and clothes protection, ventilation, no residue on plants, or on wood items, etc.
After the bleach has worked on the stain, rinse off the wood. This solution will also bleach the wood, giving the final product a rather bland appearance.
Further, overall, this may not work very well on the stain, however. So, the answer to your question ("Is there any way to remove the stain?") is "possibly, but probably not a very easy or 100% effective method."
Professor Gene Wengert is Extension Specialist in Wood Processing at the Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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