Advice to lighten up wooden beams

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Hello, I have got some really dark wooden beams in my living room and because I really don't like them I want to ask if anyone knows any methods to lighten them up without painting them. Is there any bleaching method which may work? How about liming wax? Sand blasting would be too messy and noisy? I've tried to sandpaper them with an orbital sander but it takes a lot of time, it's very noisy and it's dust everywhere which is very dangerous for our 3 weeks baby; so a dust free solution would be ideal, if there is any...

Regards,

Daniel
 
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How about planing off a thin layer of wood? That would not create dust.

The disposable type yellow window scrapers that have a sharp blade in from Wickes or Brewers are cheap are ok at shaving off bits of wood. You could experiment on a patch first. The finish would be a bit rough though.
 
Thank you for you replay, I tought about many ways to get rid of the black stain, including this one, but because is a hard wood it will be extremely hard to do it, considering that i have about 16, each 4 m long...I cannot post any pictures because I'm on mobile version but even if I get rid of a thin layer the stain will be still there, it's really deep. I bought some bleach already so I'll give this a go. Thx again for the replay, all the best.
 
You can always darken timber with stain, but to lighten timber is difficult,

combination of Paint stripper/sanding down may work but the fumes/dust will be a problem.

Years ago Dulux Paints did a "Pretend" Wood Grain Finish product that one could apply onto Paintwork to make it look like natural wood, ( a two solution Product) it may still be available.

there may be a similar product available have a word with your local Trade Paint Supplier they may be able to help.
 
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Another temporary fix is to tack on some wood effect wallpaper

or how about doing a fabric lining similar to a marquee? I was in a kitchen of a country house where they had hidden the ceiling (if there actually was one!) with gathered fabric draped help up by a pole running down the middles and tacked to the walls.
 
You can always darken timber with stain, but to lighten timber is difficult,

combination of Paint stripper/sanding down may work but the fumes/dust will be a problem.

Years ago Dulux Paints did a "Pretend" Wood Grain Finish product that one could apply onto Paintwork to make it look like natural wood, ( a two solution Product) it may still be available.

there may be a similar product available have a word with your local Trade Paint Supplier they may be able to help.

I've seen something like that but for metal, it looks very good, maybe I should try to find some products for timber as well, so far I've asked at all the DIY stores I could find and last week I went to Brewer-where I bought the bleach from- but not too much help do far, only paint and exterior woodstain. I'll look into this product and hopefully I will find something. Thank you very much ;)
 
Another temporary fix is to tack on some wood effect wallpaper

or how about doing a fabric lining similar to a marquee? I was in a kitchen of a country house where they had hidden the ceiling (if there actually was one!) with gathered fabric draped help up by a pole running down the middles and tacked to the walls.

It sounds interesting, my girlfriend will definitely like this ideea as she doesn't like the exposed beams too much, but I think this will be a second option because I think it will look better if I manage to get rid of the stain. Reading your post I've got another ideea: thin wood strips pinned onto the beams and stained, this way it won't affect the integrity of the timber.
 

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