Is there an effective way to remove blue stain from kiln dried SYP?

[scsmith42]

I milled some SYP earlier this summer for a customer, but the boards blue-stained in the board after milling (the logs had been down for several weeks old when I milled them).

Is there an effective treatment to bleach out the blue stain (even if it leaves the rest of the lumber bleached out as well).

Scott

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Scott, I have tried. Honestly I don't think there is a way to remove it completely. There will always be evidence.
Blue stain goes pretty deep depending on how long its been left to spread.
I've tried planing it out of boards before and had no board left when I finished. :D

[sealark37]

I agree with Poston.  Some folks like blue stain.  It does take paint or stain with no problem.  Regards, Clark

[Ga Mtn Man]

How much does a bag of blue planer chips sell for?  :laugh:

[Magicman]

Simple answer....no.

I planed much of it during the Cabin Addition.  My stain was not surface, but completely through the boards.  Of course in my instance, it mattered none.

[drobertson]

Not sure about kiln dried, but a customer that has built three cabins from green syp,  says the blue will go away when exposed to the sun.  Keep in mind these were not heavily blued boards, but had the streaks of blue.  I cannot vouch for the results, only take him at his word. He never had an issue with the blue stain, in fact very happy to get the lumber. 

[WDH]

Blue pine is one of my best sellers  . 

[GAB]

The only effective way to remove blue stain, from kiln dried SYP, or any other pine, that I know of is to use it as fuel.
Gerald

[terrifictimbersllc]

Not syp, but ewp blue stained, mad a former customer tell me recently that they sprayed down the inside of a cabin I sawed out with bleach to remove the stain.

[ellmoe]

   There's a difference in blue stain and mold, but often people refer to mold as blue stain. I've had mold "sun bleach" out, but not blue stain. I don't believe that true blue stain can be removed. Of course I can be wrong (at least that's what my wife tells me).  ;D

[drobertson]

   There's a difference in blue stain and mold, but often people refer to mold as blue stain. I've had mold "sun bleach" out, but not blue stain. I don't believe that true blue stain can be removed. Of course I can be wrong (at least that's what my wife tells me).  ;D

No doubt there is a difference between mold and stain, mold forms after sawing in warm moist conditions here, while the blue is often in the log prior to sawing.  I'm thinking that some of it may bleach out from the sun, but also know most of the time after staining and sealing it's not as noticeable.

[scsmith42]

Guys, thanks for the feedback.  Personally I like the look, but in this instance the customer wanted clear lumber. 

I tried a wood bleach product with oxalic acid, but it did not make a difference.

The lumber is planed and as it typical of blue stain it goes all of the way through the board.  The odd thing was that the boards came off of the sawmill fairly clear (with some stain at the ends of the boards), and they were stickered as they came off so I thought that I had dodged the bullet so to speak when they were milled.  I was stunned to see the amount of stain prevalent in the lumber after it had dried.

[WDH]

When I was procuring saw logs for the big pine sawmill, blue stain was a huge problem, especially in the summer.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

When I was procuring saw logs for the big pine sawmill, blue stain was a huge problem, especially in the summer.

We are in the summer months now...12-23-15.  ;D

[woodmills1]

One of my better students years ago was good at physics and into wood shop, we tried nearly every thing to bleach out blue stain.  It never happened