[JamieV]

Hello. I just opened the box to my 30 wood slice centerpieces for my July wedding. Every single piece has black mold on it. Instructions say to dry the wood slices “inside” but there is A LOT of mold on each slice. Instructions say “don’t” bleach it, but there is so much. Can anyone tell me what to do?

 

[Tom-G]

Welcome to the forum!

We need more information to help you. What kind of wood is it ( ie maple, walnut, etc), was any type of finish applied, was the wood raw or kiln dried, were they stored in a humid environment? Any additional information you could provide, including some pictures, would be helpful.

 

[Tool Agnostic]

Welcome to WoodworkingTalk!

Photos would help, too.

 

[SonnyAgain]

The black mold is not the problem !!!

Instructions say to dry the pieces inside? That's ridiculous. This information should be available before purchase, but who in the hell orders or wants wet wood.... or were the pieces cut from green logs? But the real idiocy is that a vender/seller shouldn't send a customer wet wood and expect the customer to finish prepping the wood by sending drying instructions. That transaction is absolutely crazy in all aspects. I think the only green wood sales would be turning blanks and these, if available, would be requested from the customer.

Another thing: Instructions say not to bleach them. They obviously know the product will develop mold and/or has related issues because of the conditions/parameters it is packaged and sent from the get go.

If effect, the vender is selling a defected product and is instructing you to remedy the defected aspect. How can a vender expect a customer to know how to properly dry wood... and without it checking?

I often have logs milled. If I wash (water hose) the saw dust off the boards before stickering, they rarely develop mold. If dirt, debris, dust remains on the boards they will develop mold. I suspect your pieces were packaged in an unclean condition.

Four months until your wedding. No matter if the pieces were bought locally or from far away, they should have been dry when packaged or packaged to prevent becoming wet. The pieces shouldn't have been fresh cut green wood, either, if that's what they did. Send them back and get new dry ones and demand the seller reimburse you any additional cost. The idiot problem, in more ways than one, is totally with the vender/seller.

Sonny

 

[Tool Agnostic]

I had to look up "wood slice centerpiece". They are what I call "cookies" - thin slices of a branch. If the wood was "green" (fresh, not dried), it would develop mold as you describe.

It would help us to see photos of the problem. I would like to see what instructions came in the package, too.

Regardless of anything else, I would contact the seller immediately.

 

[SonnyAgain]

If the wood was "green" (fresh, not dried)

Well, after looking again, title of this thread says "Fresh Cut Centerpieces", so apparently they are green. For the time and labor to "fix" the mold problem, Jamie can go out to the local tree guy and have them cut some slices probably for free or for cheap, allow to dry and buy a belt sander from the local pawn shop and sand them smooth.

Centerpieces would be somewhat large, so checking may likely be a concern for Jamie, also. If they do check badly, he/she can saw through the crack (removing the crack) and glue the halves back together. More than one potential problem, here, and likely more trouble/chagrin for Jamie in his/her effort to have to correct someone else's screw up.

But yeah, contact the vender and try to have them remedy the problem. The cause, on several counts, is totally on their end.

Sonny