A Natural Wood Stain That Works Wonders

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Yes. Staining wood with a solution of steel wool soaked in vinegar creates a chemical reaction within the wood to instantly change its colour to a completely naturally aged look.

I was reminded of this technique that I used on the outdoor furniture I made (the copycat Restoration Hardware sectional and chair) when a friend had some custom cedar wood planters made. The planters showed up looking so brand new you could almost smell the baby powder on them.

They were in sharp contrast to her aged cedar shake house. I immediately told her to mix up some steel wool and vinegar but she told me the builder was already going to treat them with their own natural aging process - steel wool and vinegar.

It's environmentally safe and it works really well.

I like to think of myself as someone who does their bit to help the environment. I don't use bottled water, I compost my scraps and I have an appropriate amount of guilt-spasms whenever I throw away tissue paper instead of flattening it out and saving it to reuse later.

The tissue paper thing is also possibly a cheap thing but the end result is the same: saving the forests one pink puff of paper at a time.

Table of Contents

The Technique

You take a small handful of steel wool (about half a pad) and stick it in a mason jar filled with vinegar and leave it to sit. After a week, it will be a rusty looking solution that's ready to use.

When you paint this on wood it doesn't "stain" the furniture per say, but causes an instantaneous chemical reaction between the solution and the tannins in the wood.

Because of this, the wood ends up looking aged, not artificially stained. Which is perfect if you're trying to make something look a bit old and worn.

Do not put it on your face because of this.

It takes no time at all. You just brush it on and you're done.

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What I ended up with was my DIY Restoration Hardware Aspen collection furniture looking like it had been sitting outside weathering for longer than the 3 weeks or so that it had.

The great part about using a solution like this is it only stinks like vinegar a little bit and the smell goes away quickly, unlike a traditional stain which will stink up a whole house and stays stinky for a long time.

Making the Solution

Experiment with different amounts of steel wool and lengths of time you let the solution sit.

Fill a large mason jar with vinegar then add superfine steel wool

All of the solutions will give you different results.

If you aren't feeling picky and just want general ageing you'll be fine using the solution after one week.

Otherwise, mix up several jars and test them all out on a sample piece of the same type of wood you will be staining.

General Tips

1 pad of superfine steel wool to 1 litre of vinegar.
More steel wool = stronger, darker stain.
Younger solutions (1 week) will have a grey tone.
Older solutions (3 weeks+) will have a rust/orange tone.
Softwoods work best.
Hardwoods with pronounced grain like oak or ash work well.
All woods react differently so do test pieces.
Even the same species of wood can react differently if one piece has more tannins than another.
The solution goes a long way. 1 litre stained my entire outdoor sectional, a chair and table.
The chemical reaction happens immediately but will continue to darken for 10-20 minutes.
Keep a lid on your solution as it steeps otherwise it will evaporate.
Apply with a regular paint brush.

Not only did this eco-friendly method work, it worked better, faster (if you ignore the week it needs to sit and stew) and easier than anything else I could have done.

How easy? Well, harder than flattening out a piece of tissue paper but easier than building your own furniture.