Is it mold ( came after being shipped )

[stuntbass77]

So this table my wife had made with the last stimulus we got finally came. Problem is it has these black spots in one side ( and a few on the sides ) that look like mold. The crate that it came in had a foam board liner and that had it in the same spots as the wood top. The man who made it for use used “odies oil”. He recommends using the same product and some really fine sandpaper to try and get it out. I am inclined to sand it down and just use the same product myself to get it off and back to new. He offered to some extent to have someone near me do it but I do t want to have someone come in my house to do what I could do myself. Ya, I would rather not have to do work I payed for but I know “I”will do a good job ! I also don’t want to have someone have to take it out of the house to do work on it as it’s a living edge table and I worry about the edges. I as well as my wife am so upset as is the man who made it. He is sending me the “odies oil” and it should be here Monday. It takes two weeks to dry so it will have to be on its top side down till it cures enough to flip over again. I would have sent it back but we payed movers to come and help flip it over as we had no idea if we could do it ourselves and the same issue is likely to happen if it’s refinished and sent back to me. My wife is so over the moon about how the top looks and the grain but I need to get this crap off the bottom and side. Any help would be much appreciated!!!!

 

[charlie monroe]

 

[stuntbass77]

 

[stuntbass77]

So the man who made the table thinks it is in fact mold. So now my concern is breathing it if I’m sanding it down. I’m hoping to not have to use a canister type respirator as I don’t have one anymore and they are not cheap. I was gonna use a 3M dust mask but not knowing the type of mold I’m rethinking the type of mask. Anyone know how how dangerous breathing whatever it is that I’m sanding off my be. I really want to do all this in my house as it’s real heavy and it could get damaged moving it outdoors. I know black mold is really unhealthy to breathe. He was recommending that I use the odies oil and sandpaper to try and get it off. I don’t think it had anything to do with not breathing it but that he felt it was the “easy way” to fix the issues. I am inclined to go down to the wood surface and just reapply the product. It’s all over in different areas on the bottom of the table and two areas on the sides. The living edge part is to hard to tell if it has any as its dark by nature. I’m hoping after all is said and done the mold if any on the living edge sides is not dangerous to our health ( from touching ). It’s a 6’ x 4’ table.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I can't help you much. I don't know much about dealing with molds in finishes. I assume that the Odie's Oil is some kind of vegetable or flax oil base? Before sanding or recoating, I would first kill the mold, wiping it with a liquid like ammonia or even bleach. Wipe it away on paper shop towels, and throw it in the trash. Don't sand it dry and blow it up into the air, where you could breathe it.

And do that now, before the finish arrives.

 

[stuntbass77]

I think I’m gonna have to have the guy who made the table pay someone by me to restore it. I was hoping to do it myself but it looks like the damage is on 3/4 of the tables finish. I have found some issues with the top after tuning out the lights and looking at it with a flashlight on an angle. I feel bad for the guy who made it and shipped it but I also payed a ridiculous amount of money ( at least as far as I’m concerned ). It’s more work than I’m willing to take on as it’s so heavy and hard to turn over. It’s gonna need some work on the bottom and now I see the top as well. This is a sample of several areas across the top. It’s on visible under the right lighting conditions but looks like the tops finish was damaged as well on route. I’m hoping the man who made it will make good as it’s gonna cost probably what he charged to do the work himself. Right now it’s just a huge paper weight and I’m just about physically sick about it. I can tell he want me to try to fix it myself but the amount is overwhelming due to weight and I didn’t pay a premium to have to go over the whole thing myself. He wants me to try to use the same product and some sandpaper and get it off but if it’s mold I don’t want anything to do with it. Thanks Bruce !!!!

 

[stuntbass77]

I’m also wondering if made it’s way under the finish, definitely need a pro.

 

[Beej]

Bummer. The pic of the package looks like areas in the mouldy spot were wet and expanded at some point. How long was it from packing up to unpacking? Mild doesn’t grow that much overnight, looks like it had a few days to grow or over a week. I wonder if the package as a whole got wet, was exposed to moisture, or was left exposed to the elements. From my moving days, I’ve also seen lots of examples of friction marks from two hard surfaces being in contact over a journey. It does not take long for things to mark each other up. Have you tried just wiping it off with soap and water on a soft cloth?

 

[Dirk Diggler]

To me that looks like mold, so ISO alcohol wipe wouldn't hurt. You're not going to hurt the wood at this point.
Maybe it came from the spalting, but it could be the finish has gone rancid.

Also if you are using it to put food on, consider another finish once you sand it all completely down.
Yes mold is not anything you want in your lungs, so mask up when sanding.

I'd never heard of Odies oil and it appears to be food safe and all, so now the finish is less likely the problem.
So I've changed my diagnosis, it's something ON the finish not IN the finish.

Good luck,
Dirk

 

[RichterScale]

People tend to panic with mold. Yes, it's not healthy for you and can make you sick,... But you already breathed in a boat load of microscopic spores, just bringing it in the house. And mold spores are everywhere, people are breathing them in and transporting them all the time. So, I wouldn't panic.
I also wouldn't go out of your way to disturb what's there. Sanding it with finish oil is horrible advice.
To actually destroy the mold, you need something like Calcite, which is a highly caustic material that mold remediation companies use. But they just spray it on and leave it. It stains the wood white and rusts metal (went through it with our new home). Bleach has a lower kill rate with mold. Lower than people think. But it does kill some and is better than nothing. However, the big thing here is not killing the mold, it's the spores flying around the house. Unfortunately, you want to get that thing out of the house to be completely cleaned and refinished. Also, vacuum everything regularly with HEPA filter vacuum and wipe everything down with damp disposable rags, to help cut down on the spores.
You won't get them all, but don't freak about it. They are everywhere, all the time and even if you are a clean freak.
There's too much to go over for a single post. I'm not an expert in mold, but I've learned enough about it over a lifetime of homes with damp basements, building a new house that needed to be treated and now working with a guy that used to do it for a living. I'm sure you already are/have, but just do a ton of research. You don't need to pay mold experts to take care of it, they will drain your account. You just need someone to get it outside for you, where you can clean it and refinish it. Or pay someone else to.

 

[RichterScale]

Also, if the wood was still a little green/wet,....it's the builder's fault.
If the shipment sat somewhere dark and wet for a long time during shipping, it's the transporter's fault.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I'll comment here, just because I'm VERY familiar with Odie's Oil since I use it on almost every woodturning project I do, and I use it on my cutting boards. Odie's is a food safe oil based product, it's a proprietary mix of various oils and wax. They won't really disclose the ingredients, but figure it is basically like boiled linseed oil, beeswax and the like, all blended together to their exact formula. It DOES bond to the wood at a molecular level, it's not like a cutting board wax that you have to reapply every 6 months, it goes on once, soaks into the pores and creates a "shell" that stays for good. My guess is, that is a problem on top of the finish, not in or under the finish.

That being said, if it was me (and I'm spitballing here based off various woodworking projects and my use of Odie's), I would just wet sand the surface with either Odie's Oil or some sort of beeswax product (the wetsanding will help kill airborne dust particles and also create a slurry that will fill any open wood pores, creating an even smoother finish) and then reapply Odie's Oil as the new finish.
EDIT TO ADD: One of the wood turners I watch on YouTube wetsands ALL of his projects with Howard Feed-N-Wax. Same theory, it keeps the dust down and the slurry fills the open pores to create a smoother finish. I couldn't remember the product he used at the time, then it came to me, that's how my mind works.

I will shamelessly link this YouTube video I made of myself restoring my brother's cutting board that was very rotten on one end, because it hopefully shows how simple this process is, even though I did not wetsand this one.

It's not a complicated process, just takes time, patience, the right tools and of course, space. Don't freak out about mold, I know it isn't "healthy". But there's so many ways to mitigate it and just a simple dust mask will be fine. Or, wetsand!

 

[RichterScale]

Based on odie's being a hard finish, I'm gonna also guess that it's on top of the finish. Which leads me to believe that it sat in a very damp, dark place for a long time before it got to you.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

What an awesome looking piece of wood. Great color and grain. Definitely worth a refinish.
I also see a couple of basses somewhere in there.

 

[stuntbass77]

It took several days on a truck to get here. I was told originally to try some very little soapie water ( with Dawn ) and try and see if it wipes off. I wiped down basics to the wood and not able to get it all off. I’m going to try and work with the guy who made it and see if he can have someone around me come and work on it. I am good with my hands and done several projects with try oil but as this is such a big piece and I payed a lot to have it finished I think him having someone make it right is the fair thing to do. If he won’t I will have to try and fix it. Thanks to everyone who has chimed in as all responses have been helpful !!! If I have to do it myself I will sand with the same product over the the entire bottom and parts on the sides. As far as the top goes I will have to think about that. It looks really good under most lighting conditions ( top only ) but i am concerned about the white area I see when I look at it in dim light with a flashlight.

 

[Bloomfield]

I would try diluted bleach. In my experience black mould or mildew like that will just wipe right off a finished surface, and the bleach will kill the spores and stop the mould from returning. I would guess that the cardboard may have have spores on it from its previous use, and must have been damp at some point.

 

[RichterScale]

Yes, I was thinking about how I would go about it if I were in this situation.
Just for peace of mind, I would open a window on either side of the room and put a fan in one window, blowing out.
I would lay crappy towels and/or plastic on the floor underneath the table and use a soft bristle brush on the edge and rough areas with soapy water. The water will help limit the spores getting airborne. On the flat surface, I would do as you did and simple try to remove it mechanically with soapy water and a rag or scrubby pad. You are not going to kill the mold and bleach will only kill a small amount of it. You simply want to physically remove as much as possible and keep it wet to limit the spores you kick up. Wear a mask for peace of mind, but ventilation will help more. It's the even smaller particles that the spores are made of and remain airborne that cause inflammatory issues.
Unfortunately, the finish will likely get dulled and scratched in the process, but tht will probably be relatively easy to fix later on.

 

[DJ Bebop]

So this table my wife had made with the last stimulus we got finally came. Problem is it has these black spots in one side ( and a few on the sides ) that look like mold. The crate that it came in had a foam board liner and that had it in the same spots as the wood top. The man who made it for use used “odies oil”. He recommends using the same product and some really fine sandpaper to try and get it out. I am inclined to sand it down and just use the same product myself to get it off and back to new. He offered to some extent to have someone near me do it but I do t want to have someone come in my house to do what I could do myself. Ya, I would rather not have to do work I payed for but I know “I”will do a good job ! I also don’t want to have someone have to take it out of the house to do work on it as it’s a living edge table and I worry about the edges. I as well as my wife am so upset as is the man who made it. He is sending me the “odies oil” and it should be here Monday. It takes two weeks to dry so it will have to be on its top side down till it cures enough to flip over again. I would have sent it back but we payed movers to come and help flip it over as we had no idea if we could do it ourselves and the same issue is likely to happen if it’s refinished and sent back to me. My wife is so over the moon about how the top looks and the grain but I need to get this crap off the bottom and side. Any help would be much appreciated!!!!

 

[stuntbass77]

View attachment 4291288

I almost cannot look at that !!!!

 

[stuntbass77]

Here is a full view of the table ( the chair we already had and plan to replace someday. Again the bottom and the sides are the are that is most effected. The top has ( pictured earlier ) only has flaws that can be seen under the right lighting. I’m thinking the “living edges” with bits of bark still should probably have another coat of the same product to lock in any mold so it doesn’t become airborne. There is no way of sanding the living edge so this would be the only thing one could due to those areas.