aargh - mildew (help!?!)

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Postby HappyPuppy » January 10th, 2011, 11:31 am

I have a neat butcher's block top sort of thing. It was being stored in a shed and got mildew ALL over it. I'm washing other things now on hot trying to kill their mildew... I hate mildew but haven't mastered it's death yet... Should I have put vinegar in the wash too? And what other than bleach will kill mildew on my butcher's block ?? I don't really want to bleach it and have bleached wood before and it does lighten and dry it out... Curse living this close to the coast!!!
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Postby mnp13 » January 10th, 2011, 11:35 am

vinegar will help, but the real problem with mildew is that it is likely deep in the wood. No matter what, you've got to get at the spores that are deep down and that's nearly impossible.

I had a similar thing happen, and I just let straight vinegar sit on it for a day, then scrubbed it with hot water and soap, let it dry, then soaked it with oil. It worked pretty well.
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Postby Hoyden » January 10th, 2011, 1:35 pm

I would do what Michelle said. You are going to have to SOAK that wood in Vinegar to kill the spores.

I also left ours out in the hot sun for a few days after that.

Then I put a couple coats of oil on it and let them soak in.
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Postby HappyPuppy » January 10th, 2011, 1:43 pm

I appreciate the advice guys - dunno how I can soak it, tho since approx 2 ft square by about 1.5 inches thick. What about razor blading and/or sanding the surface? I know that wouldn't go very deep but maybe it would be enough for some vinegar to soak in? I don't really plan to use it for food or cutting - just a neat surface for a table top or something (dunno yet) - what about commercial mildew spray like Tilex? That would probably act like bleach I imagine... :(
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Postby mnp13 » January 10th, 2011, 3:47 pm

HappyPuppy wrote:I appreciate the advice guys - dunno how I can soak it, tho since approx 2 ft square by about 1.5 inches thick. What about razor blading and/or sanding the surface? I know that wouldn't go very deep but maybe it would be enough for some vinegar to soak in? I don't really plan to use it for food or cutting - just a neat surface for a table top or something (dunno yet) - what about commercial mildew spray like Tilex? That would probably act like bleach I imagine... :(

Tilex is poison. Vinegar is not.

make a "tray" out of aluminum foil, put a garbage bag in it, and pour a gallon of white vinegar over it and let it sit.
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