How to Weather Wood for Furniture Restoration Toronto

These days, using barn wood for furniture restoration Toronto has become a popular trend. It has become so popular, in fact, that it has become increasingly difficult to get your hands on this type of wood. As well, when you find barn wood to reclaim, it comes at a hefty price. This leaves us with the option of buying new wood and weathering it ourselves to make it look just as spectacular as the unique patina that you would find with barn wood that has been aging gracefully while outside.

Homemade Wood Stains

If you’re up to the task of weathering your own wood you can use homemade stains. These homemade stains are great for furniture restoration Toronto when you want to create the effect of weathered wood. It’s all about creating an oxidizing solution. Grab a piece of fine or medium steel wool and put it in a mason jar with white vinegar. Put on some gloves and rip apart the steel wool so that it will dissolve as quickly as possible. Close up the jar and let it sit for 3 – 7 days.

When the steel wool has dissolved you’ll be left with a concentrated stain that needs to be diluted by 50% with water. This will give you 2L of this stain for your furniture restoration Toronto projects. It’s best to start by diluting the mixture with 50% water but this can be fine-tuned according to your own personal preference.

As a stand-alone stain, the vinegar, water and steel wool mixture will provide a wonderful weathered effect to spruce, cedar, oak and other wood that contains a lot of tannins. It will darken them up and provide a nice look that may be enough for you.

Using Black Tea for Wood Finishing Toronto

If you choose another type of wood that doesn’t have a lot of tannins naturally occurring in it, you’ll need to be sure to use some black tea as a base. You can also use black tea for wood finishing Toronto if you want to achieve a weathered look that is darker than the effect created by the oxidized vinegar solution.

Brew a pot of tea and make sure that you leave it to infuse for a minimum of 1 hour. This will provide the highest concentration of tannins, which is what works best for this type of project. 

When you apply strong, black tea on woods with low tannins it will activate the vinegar solution and provide great results. You won’t notice a difference when you simply coat the wood with the black tea but just wait until you put the vinegar solution over the tea. You’ll see amazing things occur as the 2 solutions react with one another.

Run a Test First

When you don’t know whether your wood has a lot of tannins it’s always a good idea to do a test run first to see what the results would be. If the wood is already loaded with tannins and you apply the black tea and the oxidized steel wool and vinegar solution, the wood can turn almost black. If you are going to be doing wood finishing Toronto on a piece of furniture, do some tests on an inconspicuous area before staining the rest of the furniture.

How to Apply the Oxidizing Solution and the Black Tea

It’s best to use a paintbrush with synthetic bristles to apply either mixture. Although you are using all-natural ingredients and the solutions themselves are not dangerous to work with, they may smell bad so make sure that you are working on a well-ventilated area. If you are applying tea and then the vinegar solution you can apply the vinegar and water mix right away before the black tea has had a chance to dry. There is no waiting time involved with this wood finishing Toronto technique.

Using Over-The-Counter Weathering Products

There are weathering products that you can purchase over-the-counter at your local home improvement centre that can be used for furniture restoration Toronto. Some of them perform better than others so it’s best to look for reviews on the Internet before making a purchase. You’ll need to make sure, however, that the products you are using contain no dangerous chemicals. Look for warnings on the packaging and if you do decide to use one make sure that you are working in a well-ventilated area.

Antique Furniture Refinishing

The vinegar and black tea process is preferred by many individuals that work on antique furniture refinishing since the results can be adapted to your own taste. If you are working on a special antique piece of furniture that is close to your heart, however, it would be best to work with an experienced wood furniture restoration company. You’ll be able to let the restorer know exactly what you want and you can rest assured that your special piece will be handled properly. 

An antique furniture refinishing company can also provide repairs when required to all different types of wood furniture. When you have restoration and repairs to do on your furniture, you can get it all done in one shot when you use the right restoration company. 

When Things Go Wrong and You Need Some Help

If you have tried to do furniture restoration Toronto and things went wrong and you didn’t end up with the results you wanted, give us a call at Lanciano Furniture. We are often called when an individual has tried to do something on his own but either didn’t get the desired results or had to abandon the project for one reason or another.

We are experts in antique furniture refinishing and wood finishing Toronto. We can work on wooden furniture and other wood items you may have around the home. Get in touch with us today with any questions you may have regarding furniture restoration Toronto by visiting our website at lancianofurniture.ca. We will let you know exactly what we can do for you.