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Oxalic acid for oil stain removal

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Have used Oxalic Acid solution for bleaching individual boards on hardwood floors. It's action is indiscriminate, it will bleach any wood it comes in contact with. If you attempting removal of oil from wood I think you need either a solvent or a strong defatting agent such as lye or some other alkaline.
If you are wanting to remove oil based wood stain a solvent that will leach the oil and colorant from the grain. Many clean rags will be needed and still all the color may not come out due to changes of grain.
 
Have used Oxalic Acid solution for bleaching individual boards on hardwood floors. It's action is indiscriminate, it will bleach any wood it comes in contact with. If you attempting removal of oil from wood I think you need either a solvent or a strong defatting agent such as lye or some other alkaline.
If you are wanting to remove oil based wood stain a solvent that will leach the oil and colorant from the grain. Many clean rags will be needed and still all the color may not come out due to changes of grain.
Thanks, that’s what concerns me. There are areas on the stock where you can tell that the wood absorbed lots of the stain. The stock has some outstanding figure but the very dark stain detracts from it.
 
In wood floor finishing two of the hardest woods to stain and avoid mottling due to wild grain, were maple and beech. I always prepared samples for customer to prevent surprises due to dream world expectations.
I had one decorator that wanted the maple floor stained the color of iced tea. I asked him what brand and how strong should I make it.
 
I use OA for the moving rust on my antique bicycles, doesn’t harm the paint and does a super job. You can try using it to see if it will lighten the wood color but that stain has been absorbed deep into the pores god knows how long ago. I would wipe and see, otherwise you may need to soak and monitor the progress.
 
I have done a considerable amount of refinishing on old oil-soaked and water/rust stained stocks. The oxalic acid will remove the almost black rust stains in wood caused by a gun that has repeatedly gotten wet. Wet wood against metal rusts and causes black wood stains in the wood it is in contact with. Picture a SXS with metal butt plate standing upright against the wall of in a wet duck blind. Repeated brushed-on applications of oxalic acid will get rid of the black rust stains on the wood's surface, but does nothing to remove oil from the oil-soaked areas of a stock. So, I doubt that it will do much to remove oil-based stain from a stock, especially if in end-grain wood. You may have to settle to remove what oil-based stain that you can with solvent and rags, then sand off what remains.
 
Alternating cleaning with Dawn dishwashing liquid solution and OA solution with rinsing in between will remove most if not all the old stain and make the stock look like driftwood. Try it on an old broken unmentionable stock from your parts bin or the local 'smith.
 

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