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Recipe 12 of 100 · The Country Cleans Mix Book

How to Clean Unfinished Wood Without Water Marks

Raw Wood Dry Clean

Raw wood has no finish to protect it, so speed is everything. Brush the whole piece dry with the grain first, since dry work does most of the job. Stir 1 teaspoon dish soap into 1 quart warm water, wring the cloth until no drips come out, wipe with the grain and dry each section right away. Rub dark spots with 2 tablespoons baking soda and 1 teaspoon water, then wipe and dry. Patch test peroxide for an hour before it goes on a mildew stain.

Dry Clean for Unfinished Raw Wood recipe card: 1 quart warm water, 1 tsp dish soap, 2 tbsp baking soda + 1 tsp water, Stiff dry brush
What it fixesGrimy or stained raw wood, unsealed shelving, butcher block undersides and bare pine, without raising the grain or leaving water marks.

You need

Mix it

  1. Stir the dish soap into the warm water. This is a very weak wash on purpose.
  2. Separately, mix the baking soda with the teaspoon of water into a stiff paste for stain spots.

Use it

  1. Brush the whole surface dry first, going with the grain, to remove dust and loose debris. On raw wood, dry work does most of the job.
  2. Dip the cloth in the soapy water and wring it until no drips come out at all. Wipe with the grain in one direction and dry each section immediately with a towel.
  3. For dark spots, rub the baking soda paste in with the grain using a cloth, then wipe clean and dry.
  4. For mildew stains or grey patches, patch test hydrogen peroxide in a hidden spot first, wait an hour and check for bleaching. If it looks fine, dab it on the stain, let it dry, then sand lightly with 220 grit to even the texture.
Dale's noteRaw wood has no protection, so the single most important move is speed. Wipe, dry, move on. Anything left damp longer than a minute raises the grain and leaves you with a fuzzy patch you have to sand.
Don'tDo not use hydrogen peroxide on unfinished wood without that patch test. It bleaches bare wood unevenly, and a lightened blotch in the middle of a dark board cannot be blended back in without stripping and refinishing the whole piece.
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