Whiting Powder.
You can do the acetone soaks, oven cleaner slathers and Super Purple dips,,but the oil is deep down. Sometimes completely through the wood.
It isn't going to run or be drawn to the surface and then disappear in a day or two by some heat from the sun or an oven either.
Yes you can get a lot of it out that way and it's satisfying to see the stuff drip out of the wood or discolor the chemical soak that it sets in it for a time.
I use some of these too for getting the really heavy stuff off the surface.
But you have to draw the oil to the surface,,all of it,,every last bit of it,,and then absorb it off of the wood surface and carry it away from the surface if you want to have a stock that will no bleed oil later on.
This is what Whiting Powder does and does well.
The problem people have with it is that it is a slow process and that does not set well in todays 'Is it done yet?' mentality.
You can substitute things like kitty litter (dried clay) for the whiting powder, but it just doesn't do the same job.
No need to mix the Whiting in acetone to make the paste as it seems is always stated. Common alcohol will do.
The liquid used to make up the paste will have little if nothing to do with how much oil the whiting absorbs from the wood.
It's only job is it being a way to apply the stuff to the wood surface from being the fine powder that it is to a hard shell surrounding & clinging to the wood surface that you want.
If acetone is used,,that will be evaporated in a matter of seconds.
Alcohol,,it'll take a minute or two perhaps.
Mix up a paste of the whiting powder and apply to the wood with a brush. Daubing and carefully brushing it onto the wood. It doesn't have to be pretty, just completely cover the wood surface.
The coating of whiting that dries and forms a hard crust shell attached firmly to the wood surface will remain there till it's brite white color changes to a brown/yellow indicating it's absorbed about all the oil it can.
That crust is very brittle, so handle the stock carefully.
Just let it hang somewhere out of the way and do it's thing.
The oil coming to the surface is being carted out and most importantly off of the wood and being held in the whiting crust.
When you think it's about spent,,simply brush the whiting crust off (a dusty process!).
Then reapply another coating and let it hang again.
It'll do the color change once again as it absorbs more oil.
Repeat till the coating(s) do not change color,,they stay white indicating no more oil absorbed from the wood.
How long to let them hang?,,the color change will let you know. When they get nasty brown yellow,,dust the coating off and reapply.
It can take anywhere from a couple days to a week for one coating. Even more if I'm on the last couple coatings and I'm letting it set for a longer term to make sure the very last of the oil is drawn out.
Fast?,,no. But find other stuff to do. Certainly there's other things to be done on that gun or the other stack of projects in the corner.
No harm in having a bunch of stocks in rotation going thru the process. You have a tendency to allow them to hang longer that way (you forget about them!) and that's good. Longer the better.
When complete,,brush the final coating off as best you can. It'll leave some of the whiting powder stuck in the open grain.
Then rinse the wood with cool water under a faucet and using a soft brush and a toothe brush to further get the stuff removed.
The wood will look kind of dead now. But a bath in wood bleach will brighten it back up and even up the color,,remove any spots and dark areas from old marks, stains and finish.
Use oxalic acid / wood bleach. That's what it's made for.
Don't use Laundry bleach. It'll bleach wood out too but the chemical is different and residue left in the wood will rust steel. (Like running a musty gun case thru the laundry w/a spot of bleach to freshen them up. Instant rust maker if you store a gun in them).
Savarin in one mfg of Wood Bleach at DIY stores though for some reason it's not as easily found as even a couple years ago. Crystal form, disolves in water.
Last time I just bought a 2gal can of Deck Cleaner,,label stated 'Oxalic Acid'. Cheap too, about $9.
I diluted that about 50/50 with water in a jar. MicroW for 30sec to just warm it up and brushed it on the wood liberally. It works perfectly.
Rinse once again with cool water when done and let the wood dry naturally.
No force or torch drying as that may check the wood.
Most all of any whiting stuck in the wood pores will be gone now. Any left will color with the finish or stain and finish when that time comes.
All these water rinse treatments won't harm the wood. The water doesn't penetrate very deep and the wood dries in a day or so. But give it some extra time before going to work on it.
Sorry for the long post,,
but that's the way I do it and it works well.
