Bleaching wood.

[JohnJohn]

I saw the "Spearmint" guitar that Drak was working on,(looked cool), and in the thread he mentioned bleaching the wood.

I've never done this.How do you do it,what do you use and why?

[Drak]

I use a 2-part product simply called wood bleach, made by Kleen-Strip.

You mix equal parts of A and B together beforehand in a cup of some sorts, then apply it to the wood. I use one of those cheap black sponge applicators to apply it.

Sometimes I do 2 applications, the second after about 20 minutes.

It takes a few hours to see the effects.

It's harsh, don't get it on you, wear latex gloves.

It only bleaches the wood down MAYBE 1/16", so if you sand heavily afterwards, you'll be back down to normal wood.

They recommend you wipe the top off with white vinegar afterwards to equalize the pH of the wood surface, but I normally just wet-wipe the wood with water, works for me...