My brother found some driftwood along the shore of our local reservoir. Most pieces are grayish in color (like pic below) & are very light weight .. like it hadn't been in water for a while. Does this mean it's old or seasoned enough to use (after proper disinfecting)? How can I tell which wood is safe when it's NOT grayish in color?
I didn't see any green, mold, soft or decaying stuff on any of the pieces. All pieces were dense .. I had to use a hand saw to cut a couple pieces & even the smaller branches wouldn't break off so it's not brittle.
On a couple pieces that weren't grayish in color several small areas had what looked like could have been some bark residue. ?? I scraped it off with my knife but it didn't come off very easily & some I had to whittle the wood to get it off. Are these safe to use? I'm pretty sure it's hardwood of some sort .. couldn't poke my fingernail into it if that is the only way to tell. ???
Is this cedar wood? It does have an aroma to it.
I've read Tom Barr's many posts saying no problems using cedar, if old or well-seasoned. Does the silvery/grayish color mean it's well seasoned?
I did a bleach soak & scrub of most of the pieces. They are now soaking in 30 gal Sterilite container in water that I heavily overdosed with Safe (powered Prime). For the number of pieces in the container (maybe 10 of varying sizes) it doesn't seem to have leached very much tannins in 24 hrs. I didn't boil them or use hot water though. What does that tell me, if anything?
I do 50% water changes weekly & not worried about tannins coloring the water just don't want to use something isn't "cured" enough, especially cedar if in fact that's what it is.
Sorry I know similar questions have been asked and I did read a lot of previous posts but I guess I'm just not sure how to tell seasoned wood from newish wood.
I didn't see any green, mold, soft or decaying stuff on any of the pieces. All pieces were dense .. I had to use a hand saw to cut a couple pieces & even the smaller branches wouldn't break off so it's not brittle.
On a couple pieces that weren't grayish in color several small areas had what looked like could have been some bark residue. ?? I scraped it off with my knife but it didn't come off very easily & some I had to whittle the wood to get it off. Are these safe to use? I'm pretty sure it's hardwood of some sort .. couldn't poke my fingernail into it if that is the only way to tell. ???
Is this cedar wood? It does have an aroma to it.

I've read Tom Barr's many posts saying no problems using cedar, if old or well-seasoned. Does the silvery/grayish color mean it's well seasoned?
I did a bleach soak & scrub of most of the pieces. They are now soaking in 30 gal Sterilite container in water that I heavily overdosed with Safe (powered Prime). For the number of pieces in the container (maybe 10 of varying sizes) it doesn't seem to have leached very much tannins in 24 hrs. I didn't boil them or use hot water though. What does that tell me, if anything?
I do 50% water changes weekly & not worried about tannins coloring the water just don't want to use something isn't "cured" enough, especially cedar if in fact that's what it is.
Sorry I know similar questions have been asked and I did read a lot of previous posts but I guess I'm just not sure how to tell seasoned wood from newish wood.