Thread: Driftwood

Originally Posted by john666

Can someone tell me how to prepare a peice of driftwood picked up from the beach so that it takes on that white clean look and is suitable for mounting or decoration.

I submerged some small pieces in a bucket filled with about 3 litres of household bleach of the no name variety with 2kg of salt again of no name and topped up with water and left for 24 hours. Baked in the sun for a day and they were bone white. I suspect the bleach did most of the whitening but thought the salt wouldn't hurt and it at least made it a bit authentic.

If the piece you have is too big for a bucket or any vessel you have then I suggest you put the piece on a sheet of plastic that's raised at the edges to form a shallow dish and slop the mix on with a cheap brush with the aim of trying to saturate the piece. All the spills will of course gather at the bottom from where you can load up the brush again saving on wastage.

Oh, Ah, don't splash any in your eyes and if you've got any cuts on your hands you'll know about it.

Tickatey-boo!

For further info:
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemis...s/f/bleach.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach

Opps, I forgot to tell you it's probably best not to where your best suit while applying the bleach, something akin to cricket attire is more suitable.

I did it once wqith a caustic soda solution painted on. Came out bone white.
Wolffie