Help - Bleach Damage

[Marineboy]

Hi, looking for some help. I received a bottle of HG mould spray via mail order, this is a very effective and powerful bleach based chemical. I put it on my dining table and left it there for about 20 minutes, when I came to move it I found that it had leaked in transit, causing the damage you can see in the photo. The table is, I think, rubber wood, though I could be wrong on that. About a year ago I sanded it back, applied Osmo top oil followed by micro crystalline wax.

Any ideas as to how I can repair this (preferably without stripping the whole top, which is about 8 feet long) would be gratefully received.

 

[NazNomad]

If you can't repair the finish, make a feature of it...

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

I think your only option is to sand the area back until you get below the bleached stain. Then re-apply some osmo to that area, when cured cut it back flat with 400 grit then wire wool ('0000') and wax the whole top. If that is not successful I'm afraid the only option will be to cut the whole top back. If when you cut back the bleached area you get the the wood before the stain disappears you will have no choice but to strip the whole top.

Good luck.

 

[Marineboy]

Thanks. I did suspect that the only option would be a complete strip but I will certainly try the localised repair.

 

[graduate_owner]

Some people find it necessary to add fake indications of wear to give an antique effect. A few more bleach marks, and get your dog to chew the legs,and your table might double in value.
Sorry I can't be more helpful.

K

 

[ED65]

Have to say it, better finish and this wouldn't have happened!

 

[Marineboy]

I don’t think any finish would resist the HG bleach. I’ve never seen anything like it for getting mould off tile grout and silicon sealant.

Anyway, I used 240g to sand around the damage until the mark disappeared. I then used Danish Oil in Canadian Cedar shade that I had left over from doing the garden furniture, on a virtually dry cloth to gradually build up the colour until it matched the surrounding wood. A coat of wax later and you wouldn’t know it was ever damaged.

 

[ED65]

I don’t think any finish would resist the HG bleach.

I presume you don't know there a second active ingredient in it which accounts for it being so much more effective at its day job: in addition to common bleach it contains sodium hydroxide (caustic soda). So to be fair it is likely that any thin, in-the-wood, finish would have seen a similar result.

Shellac wouldn't have stood up to this, it's soluble in water with a high pH as much as it is in alcohols. But many varnishes and some lacquers are alkali-resistant and would have been able to shrug this off and there would have been no bleaching.