Wood can be left unfinished if it won't encounter weather, water or significant handling. If your project is placed outside, will be somewhere wet, or will be used on a regular basis, then you should apply wood finish.
To limit wood damage, preserve furniture AND keep it looking natural you'll want to seal raw wood with Liming or Cerusing wax. Any other wax or poly (from my experience) will darken the wood, enhance orange tones and change the color.
Whether it warps or discolors or both will be revealed in the next 2 or three days. What is going to happen is the wood grain will be "raised". All this means is the fibers that make up that particular section of wood that got wet will swell from re-hydrating.
Since unfinished flooring is basically raw wood, it's like working with a clean slate. In contrast, prefinished flooring comes straight from the manufacturer with stain and several coats of finish already applied, so there's no changing it.
Paint Or Seal Unfinished Furniture
Bare wood, when left unfinished, keeps your furniture with a natural wood look but the risk is exposing it to harsh elements, even if it's indoors, such as light, dust, moisture and water damage, making it more susceptible to stains, warping and cracking.
Second, since bare wood readily absorbs water, wet cleaning methods are considered unsuitable, thus cleaning options are limited. Water and solvents can quickly swell wood fibres, raise the grain and cause unwanted dimensional change; they can also mobilize surface dirt, drawing it below the surface to cause staining.
Seasoning or Air-Drying Wood: The One-Year Rule
In fact, expect most types of wood to take about one year per inch of thickness to dry out. If it's a two-inch log, that means you'll need to let it sit outdoors for two whole years before it's dry enough to efficiently burn.
Wood can Start to Rot in 1-6 months If:
Wood is untreated. The wooded area is sitting in water. Water and/or air space is hot & humid.
A wood that is less resinus will rot faster. Wood that has not been kiln dried will decompose quicker then dry wood because the bacteria and fungus that breaks down the wood spread more quickly throughout the mass of uncured wood.
Using the incorrect chemicals on your unfinished flooring has a high risk of causing permanent discoloration. It is inadvisable to use chemical-based cleaners on your unfinished hardwood floors. Floor cleaners will harm your flooring irreversibly. Murphy's Oil Soap is a good option for one cleaner you may use.
Shellac. In my opinion, shellac is the best natural wood finish for one main reason: it's the most protective natural finish on the market. Unlike other options, shellac forms a barrier on top of the wood, stopping water, dirt, and other things (*cough*crayon*cough) from reaching the pores of the wood.
When learning how to paint unfinished furniture, it's important to acknowledge that preparation is the key to a good finish. As a result, you'll need to sand your piece in order to provide a smooth surface that will hold paint well.
While you might expect it to do nothing or just leave a small stain, rubbing alcohol acts as a solvent when it comes into contact with wood and wood finishes. To understand how big of a problem this is, you need to know what a solvent does. Solvents are designed to liquify wood finishes, including varnishes and stains.
You may or may not need more than one coat, depending on the paint type you choose. If so, it's vital to let the first coat dry properly first or you'll make an awful mess of it. As a general rule, two coats deliver a better sheen and a deeper, fuller finish than one.
To properly prep bare wood, first sand with 120-grit sandpaper to open the grain of the wood. Wipe the dust away, and then sand again with 120 grit. Next I wipe the dust away and then sometimes wipe the wood with a damp cloth to raise the fibers.
Untreated Wood
Left in their natural, unfinished state, most woods deteriorate quickly when exposed to outdoor environments. However, there are several species that have naturally occurring chemicals that help them shrug off harsh weather and insects.
In fact, all the evidence points the other way – that it doesn't make any difference whether the wood is finished on both sides or not. It will warp or not warp totally independent of how it's finished, because a finish only slows moisture exchange.
4. Keep It Outdoors. The best place to season your firewood is outside in the sunlight. Firewood that is placed indoors will not season properly and there is always the risk of termites entering your home.
Use Boiled Linseed Oil
This deeply penetrating oil is absorbed deep into the cell structure of wood to moisturise and plump up the surrounding wood fibres, strengthening and filling the cells to bring any species of wood back to life. Boiled linseed oil is available at Builders as well as hardware and timber merchants.
Yes! A polyurethane wood finish looks beautiful and is one of the most durable top coats for wood finishes. It works great on stained wood, raw wood, weathered wood finishes, and painted wood finishes too.