Activated Charcoal?
#11
I'm trying to give advise to someone that wants to bleach white oak flooring. They are under the impression that activated charcoal will do so. Am I correct in saying that the only role activated charcoal would have is to absorb and remove the nasty chemical residue left by a two part bleach? ...or, am I missing something?
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#12
Activated charcoal will adsorb organic molecules from liquid or aerosols.

The wood bleaches are oxalic acid or peroxide based, so no fumes to work with that might be adsorbed.
Better to follow the leader than the pack. Less to step in.
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#13
Activated charcoal see article absorbs huge volumes of contaminants. It in no way will act as a bleach. If the wood has surface contaminants it could remove them; but so would a good rinse with: water, alcohol, MS, or other solvent. Using it following a wood bleach (peroxide) will just result in a HAZMZT disposal problem and will not neutralize the bleach.
homo homini lupus
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." Yeats
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Quodcumque potest manus tua facere instaner opere Ecclesiastes
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#14
Could it not also stain the wood?

I have used activated charcoal in the past and it likes to get on everything and stay on it. If it gets into broken skin it can leave a tattoo.
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When something has to be done, no one knows how to do it.  When they "pay" you to do it, they become "experts".
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#15
Axehandle said:


Could it not also stain the wood?

I have used activated charcoal in the past and it likes to get on everything and stay on it. If it gets into broken skin it can leave a tattoo.




Powdered, I take it? Makes it dirt, though it will still adsorb pollutants. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon

You ought to see it when it comes back up after being administered to poison patients!
Better to follow the leader than the pack. Less to step in.
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#16
It is normally very finely powdered and can be a right pain to cleanup. A vacuum usually does the job but it might be impossible to get out of a porious wood.
homo homini lupus
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." Yeats
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Quodcumque potest manus tua facere instaner opere Ecclesiastes
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#17
MichaelMouse said:


[blockquote]Axehandle said:


Could it not also stain the wood?

I have used activated charcoal in the past and it likes to get on everything and stay on it. If it gets into broken skin it can leave a tattoo.




Powdered, I take it? Makes it dirt, though it will still adsorb pollutants. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon

You ought to see it when it comes back up after being administered to poison patients!


[/blockquote]

I really didn't want to go there but I take it for IBS related related problems. You should see it when it comes out the other end. It's really good to use as a compress for insect bites too. I use it when I run afoul of a fire ant hill and wasp stings.
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When something has to be done, no one knows how to do it.  When they "pay" you to do it, they become "experts".
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#18
Axehandle said:



I really didn't want to go there but I take it for IBS related related problems. You should see it when it comes out the other end. It's really good to use as a compress for insect bites too. I use it when I run afoul of a fire ant hill and wasp stings.




Chimney soot a common poultice ingredient for that reason. With 28 years in EMS, there isn't a lot that can go into or come out of the human body I haven't seen - or worn....
Better to follow the leader than the pack. Less to step in.
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#19
Activated charcoal or carbon can be obtained in various degrees of fineness. If you do go that route for any reason test to make sure that you can remove it from the porous oak. It is a mess to use and can be almost impossible to remove from porous surfaces. I once turned the pressure up on a nitrogen tank that was scrubbed through a activated carbon filter. The pressure blew the top off the filter and spread a few grams over the surface of a large lab. Several hours later I got it off the hard surfaces. Several months later we were still wiping it from porous surfaces.
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#20
I think carbon is the color ingredient in India Ink. Makes a useful stain sometimes.
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