Sun Exposure. If you've ever seen a home's deck after it's spent a season in the sun, then you know exactly what sun exposure does to raw wood. Wood packaging is no different. Wood that's exposed to the sun's UV rays over an extended period of time will darken and even turn gray.
All hardwoods will undergo the natural aging process and change color overtime with exposure to UV light and oxygen. In general, while lighter woods tend to become a bit darker and richer, woods that begin dark will lighten up.
This is known as zebra stain. Zebra stains happen when iron or manganese darkens the browning and makes it turn black. Sun Exposure. If your wood product is left outside and exposed to the sun, over time it will darken (like a sun tan) and may make the wood appear dirty or damaged.
Beeswax for Hardwood
Beeswax furniture polish is great for any type of wood because it brings out the natural colour. Whether you are polishing mahogany, maple, walnut, cherry, or teak, keep in mind that over time, beeswax on wood will lead to a slight darkening over time.
Iron mixed with white vinegar produces a centuries-old finish, called "iron buff," that can be brushed onto oak, and most other woods, to darken their color.
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.
However, if you would like to darken the oak, hardwax oil is more ideal. Another popular oil for oak is danish oil. This type of oil can bring out the rich tones in the wood as well as preventing surface stains. When finishing pine, we recommend using a raw linseed oil.
Odie's Dark, a rich dark finishing oil, contains natural oxidizing oils that darken wood not only when applied, but also as wood ages.
The water soaks into the wood and as it evaporates out of the wood it brings along the colored extractives which can then become visible on the surface. In some cases water-soluble tannins may react with minute particles of steel on the surface forming dark, iron tannate stains.
Let the steel wool soak in the apple cider vinegar for 24 hours. Use a paintbrush to brush the black tea onto the wood. Make sure you cover every part of the wood's surface that you want to darken. Let the wood and black tea sit for an hour.
High levels of tannic acid contribute largely to oak's durability, but those levels are also responsible for most black stains on oak surfaces. Iron materials, like hinges and nails, interact with tannic acids to create those large black stains.
Linseed Oils are a traditional option for nourishing and protecting wood, but which is the best one to use? Once dry both oils will provide a similar level of nourishment and protection to the wood and they will both slightly darken and enhance the woods natural grain.
Make New Wood Look Old and GREY
In order to get the best aging effect, the iron acetate (what happens when you mix vinegar and steel wool) has to interact with the tannins in wood to oxidize and create an aged effect. To intensify this effect, I added a tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide to the vinegar/steel wool mixture.
Shred the steel wool and add it to the jar. Then, let the steel wool and vinegar sit in the jar uncovered for at least 24 hours. If you let it sit for longer, it will create a darker look (which is fine if it's your preference) just don't allow rust to form, or you'll end up with an orange stain.
Wood Oil: Offering more durability than a wax polish, Wood oils are easy to work with, very easy to repair (sand down scratches then reapply) but they do have slower drying times. Wood Varnish: Forming a seal on the surface of the wood, varnishes are the strongest of all wood finishes.