{FINISHING} HOW TO OXIDIZE

WOOD
July 10, 2012 by Hillary — 473 Comments

How to what? Oxidize? What does that mean?

Oxidized wood is just wood that has weathered, or

been made to look weathered.

Weathered wood has a patina that commercial stain

and other finishing applications can’t match. But since
it doesn’t make sense to build a piece of furniture and
then leave it out in the elements to weather, this
quick process of oxidation using steel wool and
vinegar is a great substitute…and looks just as
beautiful, but without the splinters.

An oxidizing solution comes in handy when you’re

working with reclaimed wood like I did in these
projects:

When you’re cutting reclaimed wood, you end up

with fresh-looking wood on the cut ends. Keeping an
oxidizing solution around is an easy way to make the
newly cut ends match the rest of the old wood.

An oxidizing solution also works on new wood, and

can even be used on hardwood floors.

Here is how I oxidized the project I worked on most

recently, the X Coffee Table. I also used it on the X
End Table and the X Console Table.

Step One: Create the oxidizing solution.

Grade #0000 steel wool and white vinegar are what I

use in my oxidizing solution. Some people use nails or
screws, but I have found that super fine steel wool
works well for me. I put one hunk of steel wool (I tear
it up first to make it oxidize faster) into a glass jar and
then fill the jar with vinegar. I let the solution steep
for a few days, shaking it occasionally. As the steel
wool dissolves, the solution will occasionally bubble
when I shake the jar.

This jar of oxidizing solution is about eight weeks old. It darkens as it ages.
Edited to add: your jar will not look rusty like mine until your solution has
been sitting in the jar for a long time. When you first make your solution
it should be a grey-ish color with some solids on the bottom and murky
vinegar on top.

Edited to add: It sounds like your jar needs to be glass

with a metal lid. One of my readers found that the
solution wasn’t working in a jar with a plastic lid, but as
soon as she switched to a jar with a metal lid it worked
great. SO…learn from her trial and error and use a jar
with a metal lid!

I keep a jar of this solution in my garage and use it

frequently. If it sits for long (like more than a few
weeks) it becomes super concentrated and starts to
turn a rust color. Depending on the species of wood
I’m oxidizing, that rust color can impart a tone to the
wood that is warmer than I like. If so, I simply water
down the solution with vinegar (up to two parts
vinegar, one part oxidizing solution depending on
how concentrated the solution is) and it seems to
work fine. Depending on how much of the solution I
use, I can continue to water down my solution for at
least a few months or up to a year before I need to
start over again with fresh steel wool and vinegar.

Step Two: Brew some STRONG black tea and paint

it on your piece.

This tea isn’t for drinking. You’re brewing it to impart

more tannins to your wood. Some wood, like the
cheap whitewood I use in building rustic furniture,
has very low levels of tannins. In order to get the
weathered look, your oxidizing solution needs
tannins with which to react. Oak, cedar, redwood, and
fir have relatively high levels of tannins. Pine, on the
other hand, does not so it requires a generous coat
(or two) of black tea.

When I put the tea on, I try to keep it only on the

wood that I know needs tannins added to it. If I’m not
familiar with the wood I’m using, I test some scraps:
slap on some oxidizing solution and see what
happens. If it doesn’t change color, I try a new piece.
Brush on some tea, let it dry, brush on some oxidizing
solution and see what happens.

I find that these mini-experiments are a great way to

entertain my kids.

Once you’ve got a good coat of tea on your piece, let

it dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Step Three: Paint on your oxidizing solution.

Now that the tea is dry, you can paint on your vinegar
and steel wool mixture. A synthetic bristle brush
works well for this application. The fumes from the
vinegar and steel wool mixture are not harmful but
not particularly pleasant either, so I try to use it in a
well-ventilated area. The color of your wood will
change gradually as the solution reacts with the
wood.

Step Four: Lightly sand to even out the color.

For projects like the X Coffee Table and the X

Console Table, the plans call for several different
dimensions of wood and most of those different
dimensions (2×2, 2×4, 2×6, 1×12) come in different
species. The 2x4s tend to turn black when I oxidize
them while the 2x2s barely turn grey. The black tea
helps with this but, even with a coat or two of tea, the
2x4s usually end up darker than the rest of the piece.

To even out the color, I wait until the oxidizing

solution is completely dry and then I give the whole
piece a light sanding. I use 220 grit paper on a
sanding block or wrapped around a sanding sponge.
The amount of sanding I do depends on how much of
the color I need to take off. The 2x4s get lots of
sanding, the 2x2s get very little — just enough to
smooth out any rough spots.

Step Five: Seal it.

Just like sealing stained or painted wood, sealing an

oxidized piece will deepen the color and enhance the
grain pattern of the wood as well as protect the finish.
I’ve experimented with pure tung oil, polyurethane,
polycrylic, PolyWhey (usually my favorite sealer) and
wax over a weathered finish. My favorite, by far, is
wax. Not only does wax feel really nice (silky smooth)
and give nothing more than a subtle sheen, but it also
maintains the integrity of the weathered color.
Where tung oil and poly finishes bring out a warmer,
orangey tone in the wood, wax keeps the wood
essentially the same color as the weathered finish
you’ve worked so hard to create, just with more
depth. (Edited to add: Vermont Natural Coatings has
recently come out with a wipe-on PolyWhey in satin that
I love. It is a more durable alternative to wax, non-toxic,
has no scent, and only deepens the color of this finish. If
you’re looking for a hard, long-lasting topcoat for this
finish, wipe-on PolyWhey is it. Vermont Natural Coatings
isn’t paying me to say this…I just really, really love the
stuff.)

I always try to use the lowest-VOC finishes available,

but I have not yet found a no- or low-VOC wax that
I’m totally happy with. So, I save most of my VOC
inhalation for Briwax. I use it in a VERY well-
ventilated area. For this finish I actually only use a
tiny bit of Briwax mixed with bowling alley wax (the
yellow can in the photo above) which seems to be less
volatile than Briwax. I really love the bowling alley
wax — it is super easy to work with. There is also a
brown version of the bowling alley wax, but I haven’t
tried it yet. (Edited to add: I haven’t tried
CeCeCaldwell’s wax yet, but it’s on my list. Since I wrote
this post, I’ve stopped using Briwax because the fumes
make me too sick.)

For this finish, I want to add just a tiny bit of brown to

the wood to warm up the tone without letting the
wood go orange. A touch of brown wax seems to do
the job, plus it adds color to any tiny holes in the
wood that the oxidizing solution missed. So, I dig out
a good hunk of the bowling alley wax and slop it in an
old yogurt container. Then I add a tiny bit of brown to
it. The day I did this was a hot hot hot day (at least for
Colorado it was hot) — like over 95 degrees — so the
wax was melted and easy to mix. In the middle of
winter it wouldn’t mix quite this well.

Once the wax is mixed, find a soft old rag or a chip

brush (cheap paint brush) that you never want to use
again, dip it in the wax, and apply a very thin coat of
wax with the grain of the wood. The wax usually dries
within a few minutes and then you can use a clean,
soft rag to buff the wax to a subtle shine. The faster
you buff, the shinier it gets. Keep turning the rag over
to reveal dry fabric — buffing with fabric that is tacky
from wax won’t work.

Adding another coat or two of wax will help protect

the piece, but you’ll need to give the wax ample
drying time between coats. If the wax hasn’t
hardened yet, you’ll notice that with each new coat of
wax you take off some of the previous coat.

In my experience, the clear bowling alley wax seems

to dry to a harder, more impenetrable finish than
straight Briwax. It’s also cheaper and less stinky.

To clean a waxed finish, I think it is best just to use a

slightly damp or dry microfiber cloth. Vinegar-based
cleaners and other household cleaners tend to strip
wax. To rejuvenate the finish, just add another thin
coat of clear wax to the piece and buff it out. As you
build up the surface with multiple thin coats of wax,
the surface gets more and more durable. (Edited to
add: I’ve recently found that Howard’s Feed-n-Wax is
great for maintaining a waxed finish.)

An oxidized finish requires a little change in how you

think — there is no ready-made can or in-store
sample to show you exactly what color you’ll end up
with. But, with a bit of experimentation you’ll end up
with a lovely piece of furniture with gorgeous silvery
tones that can’t be created any other way.

Pssst…check out what happens when you oxidize in sub-

freezing temps. Take a deep breath, and remember that
this is art, not science.

« {oxidized} X Coffee Table

Paint wars: The difference between latex and acrylic.

»

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COMMENTS

Sunshine Cottage says

July 10, 2012 at 12:40 pm

Oh my goodness you’re
awesome. I love this. I need to replicate
this color but brown wax… which brown
wax did you mix into Briwax and bowling
alley wax?
Love the blog, your children are gorgeous
as is your home!

REPLY

Hillary says
July 10, 2012 at 1:40
pm

Hey, Sunshine! Thanks!

The brown wax that I mixed in

was the Briwax. The ratio was
probably 20 parts clear bowling
alley wax to 1 part “tudor
brown” Briwax. It is a very, very
flexible ratio, though. I tried
putting the mixture on plain
wood (to see how dark it was)
and it left only a very faint color.

REPLY

Adra says
July 24, 2015 at
11:14 pm

I really want to try this. I

plan to build a loft bed for
our daughter and I wanted
the weathered barn look.
Do you have to use the wax
or can you use the
polywhey instead?

REPLY

Adria
says
July
24, 2015 at
11:16 pm

Oh my! I didn’t
realize my name
got misspelled
lol.

REPLY

Hillary says
July 28,
2015 at
2:14 pm

Nope, you don’t have

to use wax. For a
project like yours,
though, I think wax
would be great. Poly
might be more than
you need.

REPLY

Adria says
July 28,
2015 at
5:02 pm

Thank you
so much for
the
response.
Which wax
do you
recommend?

Hillary
says
August
5, 2015 at 8:17
am

I love the Staples

wax, but there
are lots of
different ones
out there. Good
luck!

Adria says
August 5,
2015 at
9:25 am

Thank you!

Harold says
November 22,
2015 at 2:37 pm

Hi Hillary, do you think I’ll

be able to achieve the same
look using different species
of wood? Reason why I ask
is because, I’m having the
hardest time finding the
same type of wood (I was
planning on staining at first)
because of the lack supply
of wood here in Hawaii.
However, I figure since
oxidizing the wood will
make whole piece look
weathered, it should be
easier be to end up with an
“even” look. I was thinking
of using Douglas fir for the
2×2 and 2×4. And common
board for the 1×12. For the
table top I was going to use
expensive 2×6 clear fir.
Please, anyone and
everyone share your 2
cents, I’ll take any advice.
Oh and sorry I posted this
as a reply, I couldn’t find the
comment hyperlink.

REPLY