Cedar Oil casued something to grow

[PMC]

2 weeks ago I wiped down my closets with Cedar Oil to bring back the fragrance. I found this strange crystallization growing. Any thoughts as to what this is? Is it a mold?

 

[fwebster]

Cedar oil will crystalize as it escapes from the wood. Typically then cedar is finished with a "hot" solvent finish like lacquer, the finished surface is sealed and the oil escapes from the other surfaces that are unfunished. It looks like what you are seeing is just oil that didn't soak in and crystalized. It is easily removed with a light sanding with 320 or 400 grit garnet paper, but it leaves kind of a mess to clean up since the crystals turn to white dust when you sand them.......just put a filter on your shop vac and keep it close.

 

[MExcelsior]

Not mold. Cedar Oil does crystallize for some weeks after application.

 

[PMC]

Thanks for the feedback, learned some thing new. It wipes clean with a rag and dodged a bullet not needing to sand.

I did heavily soak most of the wood, and it shows worst in those areas. I'll try applying less next time.

 

[dpmulvey]

Thanks for the feedback, learned some thing new. It wipes clean with a rag and dodged a bullet not needing to sand.

I did heavily soak most of the wood, and it shows worst in those areas. I'll try applying less next time.

How much soaked in? Maybe less is not better? Heat? Moisture? What can be done to ger the wood to absorb as much as possible?

 

[northern]

Cedar lined trunks should not be sealed. We have 2 closet on the boat that are cedar lined. I do nothing with them. No mold, no bugs, no moths.