Etching, toning of wood allows you to achieve a deep uniform shade, emphasize the living texture of the tree. Our tips site will tell you what dyes, stains you need to use in order to achieve a particular shade of wood. All recipes are old, time-tested.
There are two options for deep toning of wood:
- Hand dyeing with a linen swab that will not leave fibers on the surface. The swab is moistened with mordant, the dye is applied to the wood;
- Soaking in mordant. According to experts, this is a more reliable way to get a color that will not be afraid of water and light. The wood is soaked in an enamel bowl of the required size, you will have to wait differently, depending on the type of wood, the concentration of the solution. Then the wood is washed and slowly dried without access to natural light..
Wood is colored due to the fact that the mordants react with tannins. Woods such as oak, beech and chestnut are best painted – they have a lot of tannin. Birch and linden are slightly worse for etching, and the worst is coniferous wood..
The process itself, as we can see, is not too complicated. The main thing is to choose the right dye to get the desired shade. Let’s list the old recipes:
- The black. To make your piece of wood after etching become coal black or dark gray, you need to use iron, or rather, iron filings and acetic acid. By the way, the same color is given to the wood by firing using the Japanese technology Shou-Sugi-Ban, to which the portal has dedicated a separate article;
- Orange, golden. This tone can be obtained by soaking ordinary poplar branches in water. Five to six days in such a solution in a bright room and the tree will have a noble golden color;
- Silver. All you need is rainwater and iron filings;
- Gray. To obtain wood of this shade allows soaking together with the bark of the willow;
- Wenge is a valuable tree. But to achieve a similar shade, ordinary potassium permanganate will help you. And at first glance, for example, beech will be indistinguishable from exotic wenge;
- Brown. Regular onion peel will help you get all shades of brown. With its help, you can get a reddish tint. In addition, walnut shells, coffee infusion with soda, and apple bark can be used to paint the wood brown;
- The blue color comes from oak shavings and iron shavings. To obtain a blue color, the wood is soaked together with copper shavings;
- An interesting effect helps to obtain such a natural dye as wolfberry. With its help, adding other pigments, you can get blue, and red, and black, and brown shades;
- The yellow-green color will help to obtain the infusion of rhubarb root, the hemp leaves will color the tree in a dark green shade.
As you can see, all the ingredients we have listed are natural, except for potassium permanganate and metal shavings. Wood pickling specialists often mix such natural stains with chemical ingredients: copper, iron, zinc sulfate, 2% Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate heptahydrate), potassium chromium peak.
It is important to remember that the pickling result will depend on the type of wood! So, under the influence of Epsom salts, oak will turn brown, and birch will turn purple..
Wood pickling, toning: we get the right color
Wood pickling and toning are excellent techniques used for restoring and reviving old wooden furniture and maintaining it in a good condition. These processes are done to achieve a desired color shade or give producible results. The materials, tools, and processes used are safe and will produce the right outcome for hardwood furniture, floors, and banisters. The advantages of wood pickling and toning are an improved look, greater durability, and a lasting impression.
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Can you explain the process of wood pickling and toning? How do you achieve the desired color?
How can one achieve the desired color when pickling and toning wood? What techniques or products are typically used to achieve the desired result?
To achieve the desired color when pickling and toning wood, several techniques and products can be used. Firstly, wood should be properly prepared by sanding and cleaning to remove any existing finish or dirt. Pickling is done by applying a diluted white or light-colored water-based stain or wood bleach to lighten the wood’s color. For toning, a variety of techniques can be employed. One commonly used method is using tinted furniture polish or gel stains to apply color selectively to the wood. Another approach is using dye stains, which penetrate the wood fibers to create a more vibrant and uniform color. Additionally, applying a wood glaze can enhance the richness and depth of the color. The type of wood, desired hue, and personal preference will determine the specific products and techniques that should be used for achieving the desired result.