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.
If I'm being perfectly honest, that last one is less about the environment and more about being raised by a mother who not only saved tissue paper, but fills out birthday cards in pencil so you can reuse them yourself later. It's a cheap thing, not an environment thing but the end result is the same. Saving the forests one pink puff of paper at a time.
Basically I do what I can and beat myself up a moderate amount when I know I could do more. Like, sometimes if it's pouring rain outside and the recycle bins are already out by the curb, I'll say a little swear word, look outside, roll my eyes, then shove my pop can in the actual kitchen garbage and run away quickly. I have no idea why I run away quickly, I just do. To date, running away quickly has had little to no impact on anything.
But when I started thinking about how I was going to stain the wood outdoor furniture I made, I found myself gravitating towards the super-hippie, I live in the woods under a fern option of vinegar and steel wool.
Yes. Staining wood with a solution of steel wool soaked in vinegar. You've maybe heard about it.
You take a small handful of steel wool (about half a pad) and stick it in a mason jar filled with vinegar and then leave it alone. What you get after a week or so is a brown, rusty looking solution. 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.
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.
I started some vinegar and steel wool solutions at a few different times so when the time came to stain I had a few options for staining. I tested them on the underside of my chair arms so I could get a really good idea of what they'd all look like. I really liked the second example best, the solution that had been sitting for weeks and weeks. But I didn't have enough of it because I forgot to keep a lid on the jar and it evaporated into thin air.
So I mixed all of the very old solution with some of the 1 week old solution and let that sit for a few days before brushing it on.
It seems like a lot of waiting around for the right colour, but I was being picky. If you're just trying to make a new wood crate look old, stick some steel wool in a jar of vinegar and let it sit for a few days then brush it on.
It takes no time at all. You just brush it on and you're done.
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.
Not only did this eco-friendly method work, it worked better, faster and easier than anything else I could have done.
How easy? Well, harder than flattening out a piece of tissue paper but easier than running out to the recycle bin in the middle of a lightening storm apparently.
I saw something like this (on a British house makeover show) used to change an ugly yellow brick into a more attractive colour. So this might work on brick too.
We've used this stuff for years, and call it devil's nightmare. Have no idea why.
Tung oil is my go to wood finish, no shine unless you buff, if it wears, just put on more. If it's good enough for boat decks, any thing else, inside or out, is a go.
I love this idea. A lot. I love how your furniture turned out. I LOVE vinegar! Is there anything that vinegar can't do? I recently stopped using commercial cleaning products. Depending on the area, I now use things like vinegar, baking soda and salt or a combination of these. And sometimes borax as well. It's way cheaper and I figure less harsh chemicals are going into the environment. I also gave up fabric softeners and dryer sheets and am just using vinegar in the rinse. I never thought I could give up my perfumey add-ins but so far so good. I am going to try a few drops of essential oil in the vinegar next to see if that satisfies my nose! Gah! When did I turn into such a hippie dippy old lady? LOL!!
I read once that fabric sheets are the number 1 cause of dryer fires. They leave a gunky film on the the filter that can't be seen but if you try to run water through it won't drain. Instead of mixing the essential oils with vinegar try a set of woolzies dryer balls (you can buy or actually make them yourself). You can put some essential oil drops on them and they smell and work great. They also cut your drying time so you're saving energy AND the environment.
Signed,
A tree-hugger, hippie :)
I love that you say "pop" and not "soda"
"Pop" is so much more fun! Nobody says "soda" here, unless they're 'mercan!
It's really a Western New York/Southern Ontario thing. Live in Buffalo, spent my summers in Crystal Beach. Anywhere else in the state, let alone the country, they say soda...unless they're from Buffalo!
Well then Neighbour, that makes you almost a Canuck!
I'm from southeastern Michigan and say "pop." I love the way it sounds!
If you're looking for a darker stain, especially on woods that don't have a lot of natural tannins, you can first apply a coating of steeped tea, which is high in tannin content. Let the wood dry fully, then apply the iron acetate solution you've made.
This should be done on scrap pieces first, as the effect can be a good deal darker, depending on the concentrations and number of applications (this technique is also used for ebonizing wood).
Another cheap, durable wood finish can be had by boiling the galls (or husks) from walnut trees in water. This is the true "walnut stain", and is much warmer in tone than the iron acetate solution. (You can also buy the active ingredient from the walnut stain in crystallized form ― just add water.)
Hi Andrew! Yes, good point. I did indeed do that with my wood when I was testing out stains and yes it's a great way to get a much darker stain. In my case, on the ash it really brought out the grey colour and made the wood a very dark grey immediately. (I was looking for a more golden colour which is why I didn't go with the pre-treatment of tea) ~ karen!
Is it me or have the dates disappeared from your posts? I already had a hard time finding your latest and now I don't see the date.
Hi Izzy! The dates have indeed disappeared. They'll be gone for a week or two while I conduct an experiment. In the meantime, the posts are in order on the homepage. So if you are on https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com, the latest post is always, always the first one in the grid of little pictures. The second post is next to it, the third one next to that and so on. They're all in chronological order on the home page always. :) ~ karen!
Hmmmm, so do I detect a genuine autographed model City of you-know-where green compost pail being used for illicit staining purposes? Hah!
The first pic of the arm is so pleasing. It is stacked just so. Are the diagonal marks from the saw or somehow your touch. It is impressive work and fit for you and your tiara. I'll keep the diy stain info in mind because it's a great look. Love your site and the comments can have good info too. Hell of a drill bit.
Hi Karen; it's been a while. Two things I'd like to mention, and one is that this method is 'awesome' but can only be used on OLD wood, or brand new wood. I had a lovely tray that needed some work and I thought this the best answer but apparently there were 'stains' of some nature on the tray (proteins perhaps) and let's just say that tray isn't in my house anymore and I'm sure the Salvation Army couldn't give it away.
Also, because I USE all my moss bits in my garden, to keep them spreading their slow works of wonder, and therefore don't want to blend and paint my still new-looking, after all these years, bird bath base I thought, Aha! What a disappointment - apparently no tannins in concrete so the problem still exists.
Otherwise, you're still the only non-health related blog I read and you still make me smile, and sometimes just laugh aloud. Thanks for doing what you do!
Charlotte T. Winnipeg
And frugal too!!! Right up my alley! I will be trying this. :)
I used this treatment on an old farm table that I turned into a sink counter in my mudroom. I love it and get comments on it all the time. Now I keep looking for other things I can do it to!
Really nice Lianne! A bit sideways, lol but I get the idea. ~ karen!
I love the chair in the photo made from 4x4 logs! The staining technique is really nice, but I think I need to make some of those chairs!
The color is beautiful. Did you use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar?
HI Wendy! Just regular white vinegar. :) ~ karen!
I browsed nearly all the pix/vids on this site. One thing I didn't like and shudder when I see the like of it, Guess what? The chicken coop!!! For the results it gives.
Oh! Well it's a good thing you aren't one of my chickens then, lol. ~ karen!