Mold on my pecan wood

You can kill the mold in an alcohol bath.

Dave Smith, Longview, WA

>Hi Carl,

When I boiled bowls I allowed them to air dry for at least an hour to remove surface moisture. Paper bags allow the moisture to migrate out. Plastic bags hold the moisture inside and makes an excellent environment for mold to grow. Last year I got a piece of box elder from Scott Greaves. He put it in a plastic bag before I put it in my 5th wheel. It got lost in my garage, which is not hard to do. When I discovered it many weeks later there was a lot of mold growing all over. I scraped the mold off and roughed out a bowl. Then I soaked it in alcohol and let it dry. There didn't seem to be any major problems other than the wood seemed to be softer than other box elder I have turned. I have sprayed the bowl with lacquer but I haven't rubbed it out yet.

I assume the bowls are still wet since they were in a plastic bag. You should be able to soak the bowls in alcohol and kill the mold. After soaking I would wrap the bowls with paper and allow them to dry. Perhaps you can salvage some of them. You don't have a lot to lose giving it a try.

Good luck.

Dave Smith

My wife says I have strep throat, but she is only a nurse in Longview, WA.

Re: You can kill the mold in an alcohol bath.

Carl B.

>Thanks for the advise Dave.

Will the alcohol get rid of the green thats down in the cracks,or should I bleach the wood to do that?

I can't answer that one.

Dave Smith, Longview, WA

>Hi Carl,

I assume the green will go away when the mold is dead. I have never bleached any wood but I assume it would remove any organic color on the wood. Mineral stain is probably a different matter.

Dave Smith

I said more than I know in Longview, WA.

Re: I can't answer that one.

Carl B.

>OK Thanks again Dave.

Re: You can kill the mold in an alcohol bath.

Stuart Johnson

>Dave, My Cottonwood test bowl has started to develope some mold beginning on day 7 of the drying. It has the outside wrapped with brown paper and the inside open. I leave it upside down on a wire rack in the garage so there is no excess heat or humidity right now although we have had a lot of rain. By the way it continues to loose between 1 1/2 and 2 oz. a day according to my cheap scale.

Is the garage cool and damp?

Dave Smith, Longview, WA

>Hi Stuart,

Alcohol will kill mold during the soaking process. The majority of the alcohol will evaporate in the first couple days. If you noticed I refer to drying bowls in a heated, dehumidified shop. Here on the wet side of the mountains in Washington State it is very humid this time of year. Bowls I have stored in the garage after completing the drying process collect moisture. When I bring them into the shop they weigh more then when I completed the drying process in my shop. In the summer time I don't see this phenomena. I suggest you move the bowl into a dryer area to speed up the drying process.

Could you let me know the size of the cottonwood bowl you are drying. Also, the thickness and the weight when you started drying it. I used a spring scale when I first started collecting data and it was not easy to track weight lose after about a week, especially on small bowls. Now I have a couple digital scales and they may be too accurate since I can record 0.05 weight increments. I have a lot of data that indicates that typically 90 percent or more of the of the weight loss is in the first five days of drying. That is a percentage of total weigh loss. Also, after 5 days of drying you can expect the bowl weight to be approximately 70% of the starting weight.

Dave Smith

Heading to the doctor sometime today in Longview, WA.

You can kill the strep...

BubbaBob

>...with alcohol in Longview, WA.

BubbaBob

Who is beginning to wonder if Dave has recently invested heavily in alcohol futures.

Dr. said I was a hurting frog.

Dave Smith, Longview, WA

>My wife already knew that. The Dr. prescribed amoxicillin and the cough syrup that makes you sleep. Since I am not running a high fever there was no mention of an alcohol bath. It has been over a week since I opened the bowl soaking container so I have not done any fume sniffing.

Dave Smith

Turning is not on the Honey Do list today in Longview, WA.

To answer your question...

RevDoug

>yes, paper and never plastic. The idea is to allow the water to evaporate. The plastic creates a greenhouse. Thus, mold grows uncontrolably.

Turn 'em round,

RevDoug