Water stained Plywood

[Chinook]

When I was ordering my plywood the shipping was a small fortune, adding a few extra sheets didn't affect the price much so I added a few extra sheets of 4mm water stained BS1088 they had for $29.00Cdn each, (the boat transporting the plywood leaked) thinking I would use them for a boat that I would paint.

It looks like it might be salvageable, the damage doesn't look too bad I would hate to paint it unless unavoidable.
The damage consists of a few light water marks with some black stains (mildew?) 6-9" in from two edges of the sheet, the center is fine.

I was thinking of scrubbing the sheets with some household bleach, rinsing with a hose and laying them out in the sun to dry, would this be a good or bad idea? any other ideas?

[jem]

Hmm... this is a new one for me.

A little bleach should kill any active mold. If you want to see if it'll still be good, let it dry out like you said but also store it for a couple weeks before glassing or applying epoxy to make sure it's dried out. Maybe cut a small test piece to see if anything is still moist.

[craiggamesh]

A couple of years a go, a vehicle of mine, with a soft top, leaked due to rain. I did not know it and did not driven it for several months. When I opened the door, the entire inside (walls, door panels, etc) was covered with mold. We thought it was potentially totaled and an auto detailer did not think it was possible to remove the stains. I decided to attempt to clean it myself. I had just learned of a no-rinse sanitizer developed for home brewers called One-Step. I mixed it up and scrubbed the entire inside of the vehicle. The results: no more mold or mold stains and absolutely no damage to the upholstery. I then had the detailers Ozone the vehicle overnight to kill all spores in the ventilation system. The vehicle looks like knew. The detailer was so impressed, he wanted to know what I used so i told him. It is available at most home brewery supply stores. It is basically a powdered version of hydrogen peroxide and evaporates with no residue. I can't guarantee that it will work on plywood, though. I guess you could always start brewing beer if it doesn't.Best of all, its cheap and you don't need much.

http://www.homebrewers.com/product/6016B

[Wannabe]

Putting bleach on wood will lighten the color. I don't know what the chlorine will to to the glue holding the plys togather. Solid wood can be bleached to lighten the color though.
Bob

[jem]

Putting bleach on wood will lighten the color. I don't know what the chlorine will to to the glue holding the plies together. Solid wood can be bleached to lighten the color though.
Bob

That's true. I wouldn't use pure bleach. maybe like a 16:1 (1 cup of bleach in a gallon of water).