How to Weather & Age Wood

with Steel Wool & vinegar.

What you need:

-wood you want to age ;)

-vinegar

-steel wool (you can find steel wool in the paint section in any hardware store by the stain)

-glass jar

 

Start the day before you start you project. Put a small amount of steel wool grade 000 into your jar of vinegar.  Let it sit overnight, or for up to 2 days. I didn’t get to my project when I was expecting to and had to start over. Bummer! This is what it should not look like:

Now, if it doesn’t look like this it’s time to start. Filter your steel wool out of your vinegar. You could use a coffee filter, or if you don’t have one I just used a paper towel, because going to the store was just not worth it.  I just brushed mine on with a cheapo synthetic brush and it worked great! Harbor Freight is the best place to get cheap brushes. If you catch them while they’re on sale, you can get them for 50 cents! Brush on your “stain” and your wood will start changing. It’s actually really fun to watch. Now, if I were to do it all over again I would have watered my vinegar down. This picture was taken right after I brushed it on, but by the next morning it was darker. I think if you water it down it would stay a lighter gray so FYI. If you are going for almost black though Leave your vinegar in for 2 full days and brush it on real thick you will get BLACK.

Now, I sanded the entire area and wanted to do a whitewash on top to lighten it up. To do a white wash pour some paint into a container. I used old tupperware :) Mix your paint and water. I did 1 part paint to 2 parts water. Brush your whitewash on and then wipe off the excess. Then, after that dried I wanted it to be a little warmer so I added some Ralph Lauren glaze in Smoke. This is my absolute favorite glaze it antiques just right and warms up your furniture!

Let’s just pretend my floors were mopped & that sippy cup wasn’t there mmkay?? But here is the sneak peak to our new Farmhouse Table!! I am in. love. I’ll post some more pictures soon!

So that is how I got my “barn wood” look for my table. I’ve heard you can add tea to the concoction. Maybe I’ll try that next time. Have you tried this?? Do you have any tips to add?