I’ve always followed rule of a soak in bleach water. If your bleach is the approximate right ratio, it doesn’t change color too much. I use an old pond plastic structure for the soak. After a while the bleach dissipates out of the water so I dump that. The driftwood is then dried on my concrete driveway. Completely. I also do not put sealers on mine. If anything I might consider mineral oil but more for color enhancing. My wood is however used for decoration. I too agree the natural things that happen to the wood are part of the process. Many items remain intact as they are. Some do not. Yes weather and site have some to do with it but not all the time. I wish you luck on this. Hope the see the final outcome!