Do you ever have things that need doing that you put off? This chair was one of those things. It's in the back of your mind and it pops up every now and again to annoy you. At some point you realise it's tormenting you and it's probably better to deal it and move on with your life. The client asked for the wood dye on her chair to be removed. Removing wood dye, simply put, is a nightmare. However, now it's done I can share with you a few tips.
First tip: don't use wood dye, just don't go there. Second tip, if you do go there - be 100% sure it's the right decision because it's pretty hard to remove and if it's a pigment based dye, well, you can forget it.
Here is the blue chair before:
And here is the blue chair after:
To remove any type of wood dye you have to use a bleach. In this case I used a specific chlorine bleach because it removes the dye without affecting the colour and tone of the timber underneath. This chair took two applications. It's important to give each application time to settle so I waited a couple of days between each one. The chlorine bleach would not have worked if this was a pigment based dye but thankfully it wasn't in this case. Usually only sanding will remove pigment based dye and with the engraving detail on the chair this would not have been appropriate.
Once the dye was removed I used a clear wax (carnuba and beeswax blend) to protect the wood. The client was really happy with her chair and I was very happy to have finished it.
If you have a restoration project you would like advice or a quote on please email me at restoration@westegg.co.uk or visit the restoration page on the West Egg website by clicking here.
Now onto my other list of things I've been putting off......
Now onto my other list of things I've been putting off......
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