Cabot bleaching oil?

9 years ago

Apologies in advance for my off topic question. I know GW has specific gardening forums and a paint forum, but I'm not sure if I'll get much of a response and this board was so helpful when I was building my home a year and a half ago.

I'm contemplating building raised beds in my tiny yard to grow some veggies. If I decide to go with wood as the frame I would like to use the same stain that's on my picket fence, Cabot bleaching oil. I'm just wondering how toxic it is and if it really matters in terms of leaching into the soil and veggies?

The stuff must be pretty bad because when my neighbor was applying it to their fence it gave me a terrible headache. But I really want the raised beds to match the fence which will only be a few feet away and I'm hoping by matching I won't draw the ire of my HOA. To construct the frames I might use thin cedar fence boards or maybe something thicker. So, will I be poisoning my family if I apply the bleaching oil to the outside of my raised bed frames?

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Comments (4)

DLM2000-GW
9 years ago
Since you don't want pressure treated lumber near your growing food either, you'll need a wood that is naturally decay resistant. I know cedar or cypress work well in outside construction but not sure if they're great in direct contact with soil. I'd find a wood that is good in that situation then use a second wood outside of that with your bleaching oil to keep it away by one layer from your growing soil. I realize, another layer is another expense but you're growing food, not flowers so be careful. Read the label of the bleaching oil - there may well be warnings about using near food source. I don't want anything with Petroleum Distillates near my food.
293summer
9 years ago
I definitely would not use that type of product as part of a vegetable garden. We used a product on our wood raised beds a product called Eco Wood Treatment, but I'm assuming it will not give you the same look you desire with the bleaching oil. You might also consider stone or paver raised beds, or toughs or other large planter containers that I'm sure would look lovely and blend nicely into your landscape.
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loonlakelaborcamp
9 years ago
You will have to use thicker boards -- the pressure of the soil will make them bow out. Even 2 X 6 lumber will bow out if not supported sufficiently. One thing you could do is build the beds out of 2 X lumber, then nail a skin of thin, already stained cedar on the outsides to match your fence. I'd put some spacers between the cedar and the pine to prevent the oil from permeating the pine from the cedar skin.
User
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
It is unusual to use Cabot Bleaching Oil for a fence and even more unusual to use it for wood in contact with the ground. It will age to a pale silver gray that will tend to become discolored close to the ground.

It also has a petroleum distillate solvent base which is why you got a headache smelling it.

Since the Bleaching Oil contains a small amount of Driftwood Gray stain, a good alternative might be a Cabot acrylic water based stain in Driftwood Gray or you could use an acrylic Bleaching Stain if you wanted it to be a pale Driftwood Gray or you could mix the two together.

The VOC difference between the solvent based Bleaching Oil and the acrylic stain is 150 lbs/gal vs 550 lbs/gal.