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PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 7:20 pm 
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Hey Guys,

Well, my best laid plans for bleaching/disinfecting some green holly have gone somewhat awry. When the holly rounds were split, the wood was a beautiful creamy white. I bleached/disinfected the wood with a strong oxalic acid bath, and then against my better judgement, I rinsed the acid off, as per the printed instructions. I then sealed the end grain with wax emulsion and set it aside.

Two weeks later, all of the pieces have the blue fungal stain that so often plagues holly. Interestingly, it seems to always be associated with the pith. Pieces that were riven (before I hacked my thumb) have only a thin section of pith that turned blue, as if the riven pith could contain the infection. Pieces that were sawn (after I hacked my thumb) have the infection spread across the sawn face.

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I re applied the oxalic acid, and it appears to have killed the fungus, but the stain only turned brown. This time I didn't rinse, but left the acid on the wood. Hopefully, catching it early means that the fungus won't penetrate any deeper and only the surface and pith will be effected. Time will tell.

Cheers,
Tom

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:47 am 
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Quote:
Interestingly, it seems to always be associated with the pith


I've never had the good fortune to try drying holly, but I've read any number of accounts.
This revelation is a first for me; never heard it before now.

That first picture sure is telling regarding the pith re: sawn vs riven.
Makes you wonder if you were to remove the pith altogether if the staining could be completely avoided.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 14, 2017 1:17 pm 
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I had a huge batch of holy go bad on me as well, Tom. Unfortunately I didn't bother to try bleaching and/or disinfecting any of it and ended up with some rather ugly firewood.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 14, 2017 5:59 pm 
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Hey Dennis,

I think that the reason dry white holly is so expensive is because of the difficulty in keeping it white through the drying process.

Cheers,
Tom

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 5:44 pm 
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Buddy Holly?? :roll:

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