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.
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.
Using a natural solution like vinegar can also lighten dark stained wood. If you want to know how to make dark stained wood lighter with this solution, you must first soak the entire surface with vinegar. Then, let it sit for a day or 24 hours, to allow the solution to work its magic.
I've found a mixture of 50:50 vinegar to water does the job. When neutralizing oxalic acid, you can use household baking soda mixed with water. Lightly sand after bleaching and neutralizing the wood.
Use Steel Wool to Lighten Stained Wood
Steel wool is a viable option to lighten wood without sanding. Start by dampening your 0000 steel wool in warm water. Run the steel wool along the grain of your wood to avoid scratching it.
Lay a brightly patterned runner across a wood dresser or table. Opt for bold bedding or wall art in a bedroom outfitted with wood furniture. Table lamps, vases, and planters in a rainbow of colors can also help cheer up dark wood furniture.
Household bleach can be used to slightly alter the appearance of wood, but it won't drastically impact the wood's natural color.
To lighten already-applied wood stain, first try turpentine, mineral spirits or household bleach. Apply firmly and evenly along the grain.
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.
Wood Brightener does 3 things for your deck: It neutralizes any remaining stain stripper or wood cleaner. It restores and brightens wood to its natural, bare state. It opens the pores of the wood.
Depending on the species of hardwood flooring it will fade, bleach, or darken when exposed to the sun. Wood is photosensitive material so if there is overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays then there will be an effect on the color of the floors. It is said that about 40% of all interior fading happens from UV rays.
PolyShades stain and polyurethane also allows you to easily change the color of your currently stained or varnished wood without stripping. Over old varnish you can change the color without removing the old finish or hiding the grain.
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.
For pieces where you have a dark finish and want to go lighter, you will need to remove the existing finish first. Then, determine what undertone your wood has and counteract it with an appropriate stain color. For pieces that are a light finish, and you want to go darker, you can simply apply a darker stain!
What are our options for lightening the wood paneling? A. You have two basic options -- paint or refinishing the wood. Application of an opaque paint would be the easiest, but refinishing will retain the natural wood grain which may be a better companion to the brickwork.
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.
While household vinegar has countless applications in home cleaning, using this versatile substance is not appropriate in many different situations. Because vinegar is acidic, it can corrode wood and stone, it can destroy wax, kill plants, and cause other damage.
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.