Coffee, tea, vinegar, walnut hulls and even certain berries can be used to stain wood. Refinishing using natural stain can be a fun DIY woodworking project that saves money by using readily available materials to create a beautiful wood finish.
Using most gel stains, you can darken wood furniture, or stay the same color, without sanding off the old stain. But, I usually use General Finishes Gel Stain because the finish always looks beautiful. Don't forget to Save or Share these steps for how to stain wood without sanding.
Household Bleach
I have used this method on several pieces of furniture. Simply wipe the wood down with bleach and let it dry. Then, you can repeat as necessary. I've also found that sitting it out in the sunlight helps.
The only effective way to lighten the color of wood after it has been stripped of all surface coatings is to use a wood bleach. Sanding does help to lighten wood in many cases, but this only applies to surface soil or grime, and even then only if the discoloration has not penetrated very deeply.
How does vinegar darken wood? Vinegar causes steel wool to oxidize, or basically rust. That rust “dyes” the vinegar. Then, that vinegar reacts with the color of the wood that you apply it to, giving it a new, deeper color.
Surfaces that Should Not Be Cleaned with Vinegar
hardwood floors, wood furniture, and other word surfaces – due to its acidic nature, vinegar can damage hardwood floor finishes, causing them to look dingy. Use either a cleaner specifically made for hardwood floors or a mix of soap and water.
Early in my DIY career, I wondered if it was better to sand or strip paint. Then, I learned that lesson the hard way. It is faster, easier, and safer to strip paint than to sand it. Sanding takes longer, can be harsher on the wood, and in the case of some paints, spreads dangerous particles into the air.
Staining wood is perhaps the best way to change its existing color. Traditional water-based wood stain penetrates the surface of the wood. This allows the natural grain and patterns of the wood to show through,while still changing it's color. Water-based wood stain actually penetrates better then oil-based wood stain.
Wood stains provide some protection to the wood, while dyes do not provide any protection. However, because dyes sink into the wood, they are less likely to show scratches or surface damage. Dyes do fade in sunlight and UV rays, so they are less suitable for projects that will be outdoors or exposed to long-term light.
We tend to think of natural dyes as coming from plants, but of the four most popular dyes used to color wood nowadays, two of them, brazilwood extract and logwood extract, are derived from the heartwood of trees, one is derived from the husk of a nut or from peat (walnut crystals) and the fourth, cochineal, is actually ...
Just like hardwood floors, vinegar can eat away at the wax finish on wood furniture, leaving it looking dull and cloudy. But, you'll frequently read that vinegar is ideal for cleaning all types of wood. If you would like to use vinegar on finished or waxed wood furniture, use it extremely infrequently and at your risk.
The abrasiveness of baking soda can ruin sealants and finishes of wood and even cause staining. Instead, opt for a mixture of dish soap and water to clean any wood surfaces. If you have used baking soda and stained the wood, you will likely have to sand back the area and reseal it to fix it.
Pour enough white vinegar into the container that it will submerge the steel wool. Put the top on and shake it up good then let it sit for 24 hrs. You can get different levels of aging if you let is sit longer or shorter periods, but for most of my purposes 24 hrs is perfect.
Pre-staining the wood with black tea or coffee can produce more tannins and thus, darken the wood. An oxidation solution with apple cider vinegar can also produce a slightly darker result without the need for a pre-stain.
Here's how to age wood and make it look old and gray. Iron vinegar on fresh cedar lumber: Soak some steel wool in white vinegar for a few hours or a few days - the longer it steeps, the darker the aged effect will be. Fill the jar with the steel wool and vinegar, the measurements don't have to be precise.
One of the simplest ways to age wood quickly is to apply a paste of baking soda and water, let it dry in the sun, and scrub and wipe it away. Aging wood with baking soda leaches the dark tannins away, resulting in a partially bleached, weatherworn look, similar to a barn or driftwood.
Hydrogen peroxide is a great solution for bleaching wood. But, it may not be suitable for all tree species. When used on oak, the wood may turn a shade of green. Bleaching is done using a 30% solution.
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.