Last month I shared our DIY herringbone barn door and I mentioned how I bleached some of the yellow pine wood. Yellow pine is a very affordable wood option, but it can be a little too, well, yellow. Wood bleaching gave my door a much more streamlined look. So, today I’m sharing my technique and all the steps I used to complete the look. I was surprised by how easy it was!
My main reason I tried this method was because I used two different wood types for my barn door project. The barn door frame was constructed with a yellow pine 2×12 and the herringbone pattern door panel was made from 1×6 select pine. So they were both pine, but not the exact same. The yellow pine had a much more yellow/orange hue than the select pine. And I wanted them to be more the same – enter wood bleaching.
Wood Bleaching Materials
- Wood, wood furniture, etc
- Bleach – I used Chlorox
- Foam brush
- Disposable cup
- Microfiber cloth
- Gloves and protective equipment
We started by building our barn door with raw wood, but you may be starting with a piece of furniture that was previously finished. If that is the case, you will first need to remove any finish on the wood. You can use a stripper (such as this), or sandpaper, or a combination of both.
After the finished is removed and you are down to bare wood, you can start the bleaching process. Please remember to use protective equipment such as gloves, protective eyewear, and a mask as needed. And make sure to do this process in a well ventilated area.
Wood Bleaching Process
The actual wood bleaching process is pretty dang easy. I poured 1/2 to 1 cup of bleach in a disposable plastic cup, then, using a foam brush, I brushed a light coat of bleach onto the wood. You want to make sure the bleach covers every inch of the wood, but you don’t want to let any of the bleach pool on top of the wood. I would not recommend pouring the bleach on the wood.
Since I was only bleaching the barn door frame, I worked on the back first (just to make sure it looked how I envisioned). Once that side was complete, I flipped the door over and repeated the process on the front.
But back to the bleach. Once I put the first coat of bleach on the backside of the door, I let it dry until the wood was no longer damp. This took about 4-6 hours but will vary based on temperature and humidity. When the first round of bleach was dry, you could already see the wood lightening. It was very gratifying that something this easy was working!
I repeated this process with 2 more coats of bleach, letting them dry fully in between coats. When the last coat was dry, I saturated a microfiber cloth with water and wiped down the door to neutralize the bleach. Again, you want to put enough water on the wood so that the entire surface is covered, but do not let the water pool (or stand) on the wood. Just enough to get it damp should do the trick. When the wood has dried, the bleaching process is done. Viola!
Above, you can see a scrap piece of the yellow pine next to the bleached yellow pine. The bleaching process really removed the golden/yellow color of the wood. This process took me less than an hour of hands on time, so I will definitely be using this technique again!
Note: When wood gets wet, it brings out the grain, so sanding after this process is a must. Sand using a lower-number grit sandpaper first, then move onto a higher-number grit sandpaper. Now you can paint, stain, or finish your piece however you would like. I chose to add a polyurethane finish to my barn door.
See more about our barn door here.
Have you ever tried anything like wood bleaching? Do you think you will try it now? I’d love to hear what you think! Comment below or connect with me on instagram @elleandjaydesign. You can also follow along with my projects on Pinterest!
