blue stain

[beenthere]

Last April (2005) we processed about 41K feet, taking care to do it right. Pine boards planed through early fall were good, and then blue stain came on strong.
This year we're adding about a cup of Chlorox to the Woodmizer blade soaker (or whatever it's called) plus I'm spraying the pine boards (one side only, due to time constraints) with one cup Chlorox per 2 gallons of water as we stack and sticker.
I'll let you guys know how it works.

And Greenie, how does it work?

[zopi]

Last April (2005) we processed about 41K feet, taking care to do it right. Pine boards planed through early fall were good, and then blue stain came on strong.
This year we're adding about a cup of Chlorox to the Woodmizer blade soaker (or whatever it's called) plus I'm spraying the pine boards (one side only, due to time constraints) with one cup Chlorox per 2 gallons of water as we stack and sticker.
I'll let you guys know how it works.

i bleached the hell out of a pile of lumber last summer...came out just like the ones I did not bleach...specially after planing..

[SwampDonkey]

Mine were stained all the way through the sapwood. I found out why when I seen ambrosia holes all through it. It was just in the sap wood, I assume, and you could see it end abrupt at a growth ring when you cut the end off the boards. You could spray bleach until the cows come home, it won't take that out. Aside from ruining the board, it was actually quite neat to end so abruptly. I gotta get a picture sometime.

[SwampDonkey]

Ambrosia galleries and all. Sure is interesting the way the stain progresses. The rings are pretty tight because those are some tiny beetles.

[Greenie]

Last April (2005) we processed about 41K feet, taking care to do it right. Pine boards planed through early fall were good, and then blue stain came on strong.
This year we're adding about a cup of Chlorox to the Woodmizer blade soaker (or whatever it's called) plus I'm spraying the pine boards (one side only, due to time constraints) with one cup Chlorox per 2 gallons of water as we stack and sticker.
I'll let you guys know how it works.

And Greenie, how does it work?

We went back to spraying a strong mixture of bleach to the top side of boards as we stickered them outside in the spring (February-April). When it was below freezing we added denatured alcohol to the mix to prevent freezing in the hand sprayer. Early fall we planed and edged the boards, putting them in racks unstickered in a cold storage building. On some boards blue stain was present on one side but not on the side we sprayed. A few boards had blue stain on both sides, but I think those boards came from dead and stained saw logs.
The pine boards have been stored under cover for 1 1/2  years now and they are stable with zero new stain. It will take a lot more time but this winter's boards will be sprayed on both sides as they are stickered. We'll cover the tops of the stacks with tarps and will pull the sides up to allow for cross air flow.
I'm certain that the bleach does help, even long after the water evaporates enough bleach is left on the surface to limit growth.
One thing, we mix it strong enough to turn the sapwood yellow. When it is done the pine turns out white. Maybe folks aren't making it strong enough if it's not working for them.

[SwampDonkey]

Hmmm 5% by volume of sodium hypochlorite that reduces with shelf life, the other by-products are regular salt and water.

Maybe, but anything I have read says it's only effective on contact and on bacteria and some viruses. It is caustic to and when used to shock a new well it can cause the "lime" to precipitate and potentially clog if your water is rich in calcium carbonate. Also in that lime you get bacteria preserved which kinda makes you wonder how effective it is.   Just going by what I read, I'm no expert and not really arguing.

[Tom]

I've used household bleach with pretty good results.  I'm convinced something remains on the wood.  My neighbor used swimming pool bleach and cut it with water.  It was still stronger than the   5% cut bleach.  He even had the insects leave it and they didn't return.  It's been stacked outdoors for almost 10 years now, covered, and still no insects.  I don't know that I would recommend that strong of an application, but it's hard to argue with his results.

[SwampDonkey]

What bleach does is reacts to wood like it does to cotton in the wash. Now using a pressure washer and bleach water probably removes some wood. Bleach however, definitely breaks down wood fibres, don't know to what degree at 5% solution. Maybe that makes some kind of contribution in some cases to deterring mold? I don't know to what degree fibre would be removed from pressure washing with bleach, but most mold is just on the surface so wouldn't take much to remove it I suppose. Salt in itself is not an attractive environment for bug or fungus, but from what I've experienced when cleaning, bleach doesn't deter mold even if the surface stays dry and there is a film of soap you can't even see or seem to remove. Keeps growing back, it may not be immediate, could be 3 months later.

[okie]

There is a sawmill in southeast Ok that sells blue stain pine. In the bargain post, they advertise rough sawn pine lumber  and the blue is nearly double the price of the other. I havent seen any before as there arent many pines large enough to saw close to me. I have sawn maple and pecan and found pink and purple and green hues following the grain before. Is this for the same reason?

[SwampDonkey]

Hard maple has a week pinkish hue, and yellow birch often has a very pink hue in really old growth where the bark on the but log is no longer gold yellow. It's not stain and in the birch it is prime stuff. In soft maple the streaks are fungal following the ambrosia holes like I posted in the pine picture.