Bleach FRN?

[Doc Dan]

Is it possible to bleach FRN and not ruin the material? For example, the yellow on the Salts, both Seki and Golden, are not my favorite shade. I really like pastel yellow, though (think Case yellow handles). So, that got me to thinking of ways to lighten the yellow just a bit.

[Pokey]

Leave them sitting on a sunny window sill. The UV light will fade them like you won’t believe.
The UV will fade the higher frequency/shorter wave length colors of the spectrum to white.

Turn regularly.

[JRinFL]

Bleach and UV from sunlight will damage the handle material. To what degree I do not know, but color change indicated damage.

[Doc Dan]

I know it can be boiled in bleach and fade the color, but then that is deadly to do that. I wonder if there is another method?

I had not thought about the sun, but it makes me wonder if it will deteriorate the FRN, as well.

[VooDooChild]

I have an atlantic salt that I used to keep on a dry bag. It has gotten a lot of sun.

On the plus side I am not worried about the frn being weaker or breaking. It still seems pretty sturdy to me.

However, the color change, while noticeable, is not significant. The yellow does not "pop" like a new in box seki salt. But its still pretty darn yellow.

Also if my knife is any indication, it will take a whole lot of sun to get a significant color change.

[Abyss_Fish]

Do y’all think putting frn scales in a UV decontamination box would speed the discoloration along?

[bobnikon]

I would suggest dyeing darker. I don't like the idea of bleaching, but that is just me. A fairly quick red dunk will give you orange. A longer red dunk will give you red. A quick blue... well you get the idea. Check often though. My Native 5 Salt went real dark blue (almost black) faster than I expected based on the videos I watched before hand. It was darker than I had intended, but now I absolutely love the deep blue colour.

[VooDooChild]

Here it is next to a basically unused Pacific salt.
The pics arent good but you should be able to see the color difference.

[Senfkarte]

Here it is next to a basically unused Pacific salt.
The pics arent good but you should be able to see the color difference.

How long did you carry it? I quite like the more gentle yellow.

[Doc Dan]

That is getting more towards the color I would like. I think it would take a long time to get it to that color.

[Doc Dan]

Do y’all think putting frn scales in a UV decontamination box would speed the discoloration along?

Interesting idea. I wonder if this would work without damaging the knife? The sun will heat up the knife and open up the FRN so it can be bleached by the sun. I'm not certain about your suggestion, but it would be cool to find out. Mine burnt up or I would go try it.

[Abyss_Fish]

Do y’all think putting frn scales in a UV decontamination box would speed the discoloration along?

Interesting idea. I wonder if this would work without damaging the knife? The sun will heat up the knife and open up the FRN so it can be bleached by the sun. I'm not certain about your suggestion, but it would be cool to find out. Mine burnt up or I would go try it.

Wouldn’t put the whole knife in lol. Either way they don’t really heat up stuff, plastic safe and such.

[Pokey]

Here are some examples of faded Salts. The Fish Hunter spent a couple of years in a aquarium under the plant lights. You can see new a new Salt on the shelf below it, in the background. The crud on the handle and steel appears to be algae, the H1 steel looks fine otherwise.

The Ladybug is next to a couple of brand new Salts. The Ladybug is slightly faded from the UV given off by the florescent lights in the display case. The color of the two new ones is more saturated, and really pops in person.

[Thunderpants]

I like that faded look from the aquarium! Reminds me of the lovely "Ivory" Stretch from a couple of years ago, which I'm still kicking myself for not buying.

[Pokey]

I like that faded look from the aquarium! Reminds me of the lovely "Ivory" Stretch from a couple of years ago, which I'm still kicking myself for not buying.

I thought of the similarity to the Ivory Stretch color, too.

[VooDooChild]

Here it is next to a basically unused Pacific salt.
The pics arent good but you should be able to see the color difference.

How long did you carry it? I quite like the more gentle yellow.

That is getting more towards the color I would like. I think it would take a long time to get it to that color.

So I used to keep my atlantic salt on a dry bag that I used when I worked on the beach. I would say that knife went to the beach 3 to 4 days a week, for 6 months straight, over a peiod of 2 to 3 years. It also went out on the boat a lot.

There are a couple things to consider though.

First I was never really paying attention to, or concerned with, how much direct exposure the knife was getting. My dry bag spent the majority of its time in a lifeguard stand. So it was often in the shade. Even if it wasnt in the shade the bag could have been turned so that the knife clipped onto the handle was in the shade cast by the bag. So I cant really say just how much sun that knife got, but it was still plenty im sure.

Second I am pretty sure the fading wasnt linear. I really want to say most of the fading happened earlier on and then the knife started to level off a bit with how much it seemed to fade. Im not positive on this but I seem to remember it that way.

Pokeys suggestion seems to be the way to go. And his example is certainly proof. Direct exposure to (uv?) light will certainly fade the frn.

If you had a window sill that got light all day, then I imagine leaving your knife on it with a fair amount of flipping would fade it pretty well. It might start to fade towards the color of my atlantic salt after a few months.

Doc I actually think this would be a good opportunity for you to do an experiment. How much window sunlight exposure until you get it faded to the color you desire.

[JMM]

Is it possible to bleach FRN and not ruin the material? For example, the yellow on the Salts, both Seki and Golden, are not my favorite shade. I really like pastel yellow, though (think Case yellow handles). So, that got me to thinking of ways to lighten the yellow just a bit.

I asked my buddy that's an organic chemist about it and he said that you'll almost certainly damage the scales before getting the desired effect. I have done a fair bit of 'Rit' work and would highly recommend going that route, if you're starting out with yellow you can get a huge range of blue or green really easily, just stick with the "DyeMore" synthetic dye variety, it works better and over time the new color stays truer in my experience.

Cheers,

John

[Doc Dan]

Thanks, folks. Yeah, I think getting a faded color without compromising the FRN might not be possible. I was hoping someone had come up with a way. The UV light looks promising, but I still wonder what it would do to the FRN.

[JMM]

Thanks, folks. Yeah, I think getting a faded color without compromising the FRN might not be possible. I was hoping someone had come up with a way. The UV light looks promising, but I still wonder what it would do to the FRN.

I'd wager it would make it brittle or something along those lines

[Doc Dan]

Thanks, folks. Yeah, I think getting a faded color without compromising the FRN might not be possible. I was hoping someone had come up with a way. The UV light looks promising, but I still wonder what it would do to the FRN.

I'd wager it would make it brittle or something along those lines

You are probably right. I've seen some of the old fashioned stuff crumble.