japanese wood cleaning

[phil]

I can get NYK network with a digital antenna. It has some interesting programs with a lot of information.

one thing I saw that interested me and I wish I could share the video is of people in japan that specialize in wood cleaning. they seem to like having wood that is unfinished and of course over time it looks stained and grey. some of these practices and techniques stem way back in time.

they showed a guy that did outdoor porch railings and a ceiling that was old and unfinished, and another guy that restored old family drawer chests. both had very little finish or no finish to protect the wood and this is partly due to their customs and culture. In north america it is rare to see unfinished wood in the same ways.

he used a couple of chemicals, one was a fairly strong alkaline solution. they used to use lie but they had a different chemical they got in a granular state. this may be names caustic soda or sodium hydroxide. my research showed it is available but controlled because meth labs use it. those that work with plaster might know more about the chemical. I think draino contains it, but not sure if that's pure enough. I thik he said it was about a 10 % solution but also said there is a science in how concentrated to make it , depends on species and the project.

and the other was oxalic acid ( wood bleach) they applied the alkaline first and the acid after to neutralize it. they respected the patina and cleaned the wood so well it was quite amazing. one of the tools he used looked like a bunch of shiskabob sticks but they were bamboo. it showed how he sliced the bamboo and kept the outer part to add to his bundle to maintain it. he would sort of brush the wood to remove dirt but tried not to dig into the softer grain.

i was hoping to post a link , I can post a link to the general website but I did not find the video I am referring to. I dont seem to see a search option. If I find it I'll follow up with a link as it was quite interesting for those who like restoring old woodwork.
some of these artisans really immerse themselves in pride of workmanship and the details were interesting. They did another near the same time about restoring kimonos, dying them and perfecting them , removing spots from new material and tiny stains. It was also worth watching.

if you click the link there is of course a lot right now about the US election and it wasn't my intention to post about that due to the sensitivity of that topic.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/videos/