New walnut has a consistent dark-brown color but as it gets older, two changes occur. 1: Unlike maple and cherry, it gets lighter. 2: A rich honey color starts to come through the grain.
Unlike cherry, maple, and oak (which all darken in color as they age), walnut wood will actually lighten slightly over time.
Walnut is lovely wood, especially when carefully air dried so as to preserve the rich chocolate, purple and black tones in the best of it. HOWEVER, It fades like mad in sunlight. Furniture is touched by sunlight. Therefore, the lovely colors of the walnut go away — and it doesn't take centuries.
Walnut wood can change color depending on the way it's dried or its age. The heartwood usually is a dark brown color and the sapwood is a light yellow color. When the wood is left out in the elements, such as the sun, the lighter wood will turn darker and the darker wood will turn lighter.
Old filler is often a problem with oak, walnut, and mahogany. Bleaching can also be used to even the color of a piece of furniture made with two or more woods. It can lighten the darker wood to match the lighter one. Before you use bleach on any piece of furniture, make sure the wood is suitable for bleaching.
If the wood is too dark, soak a clean cloth in turpentine or mineral spirits and rub the wood firmly and evenly along the grain. This will lighten the stain but not remove it.
New walnut has a consistent dark-brown color but as it gets older, two changes occur. 1: Unlike maple and cherry, it gets lighter. 2: A rich honey color starts to come through the grain.
Many, probably most, store-bought stains are made with both dye and pigment. If wood stained with these stains is exposed to sunlight or fluorescent light for a while, the dye color will fade away, but the pigment color will remain. The effect is that the stained wood changes color.
Bleached walnut. Sometimes you want to make wood lighter than it is in its raw state. This is common when trying to match the wood to something that already exists. The way to do it is to first bleach out the color of the wood, then apply a stain, if necessary, to achieve the match.
As for the staining, if it's a bad case, you're just going to be stuck with it for a while. “The pigmentation is semi-permanent. It just has to wear off and it can take a long time to fade.”
The culprit behind turning your hands black is juglone. Juglone is a toxin that is found in walnut trees and walnuts. The staining from this compound can take up to three months to be removed. There are some methods you can try to speed up the process.
Tung oil varnish is a highly popular oil-based finish for walnut that offers excellent durability and water resistance, while simultaneously enhancing the natural beauty of the wood without significantly altering its hue. This type is chosen by many as the best oil finish for walnut.
Many things can change the natural color of walnut wood. For example, the elements will often darken light wood and lighten dark wood, so sun exposure over a period of years will typically cause walnut wood furniture to lighten.
Walnut wood offers rich, brown colors that range from light to dark brown. The sapwood (outer part of the tree log) is pale yellow to white and the heartwood (center of the tree log) has brown shades that vary from light brown to dark chocolate brown with some dark brown streaks.
The color of walnut heartwood varies, from greenish to dark brown when first cut. As the wood ages, initially it turns to a chocolate brown color and then darkens even more. We can certainly start an argument, but my opinion is that some of the best colored walnut comes from Missouri and the surrounding areas.
Stains lighten as they dry, then return to their damp color when a finish is applied. So the quick method of seeing the color you'll get with the finish applied is to look at the stain while it is still damp. If you're using a satin or flat finish, however, you need to factor in the impact of the flatting agent.
How do you make wood stain lighter? Because stains penetrate the surface, it's impossible to apply a lighter stain over it. The original stain has to be removed. In order to remove a wood stain, the surface has to be sanded repeatedly until the original stain is completely removed.
If you leave it on for too long, the chemicals in the stain can start to break down the surface of the wood, causing it to flake off or peel. Sometimes, the excess stain may redissolve, giving you undesirable results.
Walnut is a darker wood with shades that range from pale browns to dark browns.
Both beautiful woods, walnut and brown maple make stunning wood furniture. Walnut has some darker colors, but still looks beautiful au natural with an oiled finish.
It is very dark brown in color with black undertones. It is really a classic wood color – if you think of dark, expensive wood surfaces, this is a color that might come to mind. What is this? Dark Walnut goes onto projects VERY thick and dark.
The kernel of a young, only torn walnut has a light color, after lying for several days, the kernel it darkens a little. This is a natural and normal process. After drying, the kernel takes on its permanent color.
There are ways to make dark-stained wooden pieces lighter, such as using the wool method. Let the steel wool soak in warm water and rub the wool along the wood grain to achieve a light color on your wooden furniture.