Lighten mahogany floor

walshy252_2

We are about to complete a kitchen extension and have been looking at options for flooring. The build cost more than expected so have been trying to reduce cost elsewhere. We decided to take on a project to fit and restore reclaimed parquet flooring and managed to get 60sqm of mahogany for £250.

Trouble is its a lot darker than we want the finished look to be. We've sanded a couple of blocks back and coated with some excess white coloured floor wood wax from another project and it hasn't really soaked in or had much of an effect. 

Has anyone tried this before? We want to get it closer to a pine/oak colour if possible. Wondered if bleaching might do the trick?

N.b the obvious answer is to have bought pine/oak flooring but we couldn't find enough of it in the same size blocks to be suitable.

mi-key

You will never get mahogany to look like pine or oak as it is a completely different coloured wood. 

grumbler

I'd try OXI, hydrogen peroxide, bleach, but result can be unpredictable.

pramsay13

Experiment and see how it looks. 
Try lime wax.
Or just wipe bleach onto it. 

ThisIsWeird

I fear you will struggle, because mahog doesn't even have an interesting grain pattern that would respond to, say, a 'whitewash' - a thinned white paint. 

It'll be interesting to see if bleaching will work. No harm in trying a test piece, but I fear...

twopenny

The mahogany may darken again when exposed to sunlight but this site seems to suggest wood bleach - quite a toxic mix of chemicals
https://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/finishes/get-the-color-out-with-wood-bleach
And this explains it further
https://handymansworld.net/how-to-lighten-mahogany-wood/

Have you thought of leaving the wood the colour it is and adding something to the kitchen to make it blend more? Blinds, bowls, containers and such? Would only need to be one or two things.
I'd love a mahogany parquet floor! Wow, real class and hard wearing.

mi-key

The problem with bleach, apart from it not getting anywhere near the look of limed oak or pine, is that you are never going to get an even colour as the wood won't take it consistently. It will end up looking patchy and awful, and at best will lighten to a medium brown colour. 

I used to work with mahogany a lot in my woodworking days, and it was easy to make darker, but you could never make it lighter than it's natural colour.