Aging Wood with Baking Soda

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Original post on our site with additional information, plans, questions & comments:

Baking soda, among other chemicals, can be used to stain wood with dramatic effect.

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[HansFormerlyTraffer]

When I was a painter and decorator, we would use oxalic acid to "pickle" wood. It would make some woods look like barnwood. Then we would use a two tone greyish stain to highlight the tips of the grain. Darker in the grooves and lighter on the tips. It worked pretty well for simulating barnwood.

[MrKillavolt]

Mark you should have your own TV show. You enunciate so well and there are no uhms and ers in your presentation. You are a true professional.

[-ZIO]

Add more tannons! I have an old world stain for you. My grandfather was a furniture maker in Italy. Sometimes I would stop by his shop on my way home from school. One afternoon he was making black tea. We dont drink much tea in Italy and in my family no one did. So I ask my nono who was the tea for? He said it was for the wood. I live in the US now and I still use tea for most of my projects. Just to test on any scrap you have, boil 2 cups of water with 6 or 8 black tea bags for 30 minutes to brew a very strong tea. Let cool. Apply to any species of wood you have. You can vary the strength of the brew or apply several times to increase the effect. Try it and you will fall in love with the warm chestnut color you get from many of the white woods. Some danish oil or boil linseed oil over the tea stain really finishes it off. Best part is how safe it is. Its just tea! (but dont drink it, taste horrible. Drink espresso instead :)

[AndrewArndts]

If your able to obtain the baking soda again...  FIRST brew up some black tea triple strength.  apply it to the Maple which has almost no tannin let it sit til dry then use the baking soda solution on top.  It will be gray vs the darkening hue of the cherry.

[CGOlde]

Try chaga mushroom tea for a super dark coloration. It contains melanin and brews up black as midnight. A single coat will make pine look like walnut and several coats can make it like ebony.

[bradenbeckstrom]

A similar process that might fit in this category is ebonizing wood with iron acetate ( steel wool and vinegar) and the tannins in the wood. Have you ever used this option Marc? Also, if you want to increase the tannins in the piece you are using then you can apply tea water or a solution of dissolved tannic powder to the wood before either the baking soda or iron acetate process. I did that on a nightstand project and it turned out great.

[woodwhisperer]

Apologies for the re-post. Had to fix an editing error that was going to drive me nuts.

[prakkari]

Iron sulphate (ferrous sulphate) reacts well with tannin and makes the wood grey to black depending of tannin content. Pine has little tannin and thus the reaction is limited. To help that I use some tannin rich tea and soak it in before I apply the sulphate. Works like magic and gives you naturally gray and weathered look that lasts. Oak and hardwoods tend to get very dark or even black so its a perfect way to ebonize wood.

[AffordBindEquipment]

at 2:34 it looks like the top one is solid material and the bottom is 1/4" plywood. solid and ply will just about always stain or color differently, especially if the plywood was rotary cut.

[MacheteBushcraftAustralia]

You nailed it with the 'natural look' statement. This looks much better than a stain!

[ericchristen]

"No relation to Biff"... Nice! Any reference to "Back to the Future" wins my respect. That alone makes you awesome. Thank you!

[scpatlnow]

Have you ever tried ebonizing oak?  Thats the one where you take any rusted nails or similar and submerge with vinegar in a glass jar (uncovered) overnight then strain and use the liquid before it starts oxidizing (unless you want a red hue).  If you have a high tannin wood (I've only done red oak)...it will turn black and look rather similar to ebony when finished (not to mention its a WHOLE lot cheaper than buying ebony...and sustainable!)  Added benefit is rust removal on what you put in the vinegar.

[Brandywine]

I love that deep mahogany reddish purple color. I have a table that is over 100 years old and I wish I could match that color. It has that purple tint to it.

[sidraket]

Mixed with water in varying quantities you can also use it as toothpaste, to neutralize and clean off battery acid, to use as an antacid if your stomach is upset, as a gentle exfoliant scrub for your skin, or as a very effective cleaning solution for many household surfaces. It soothes insect bites and mild burns applied as a paste. As a powder ive used it to help soak up spilled oil. When heated it produces some CO2, making it a good thing to use to smother grease or electrical fires. Some people think it can cure cancer.

You can also cook with it.

[JohnSmith-jfwe]

Marc, I'm so glad you re-posted!  I learn something new every time I watch your show.  Thanks for all of the great tips and advice.  Novices like myself need all of the help we can get!

[thomasarussellsr]

Interesting reaction on the mahogany, I can think of a few friends and family members who would love the purple hues.

[jodidavis]

Boy this was very easy to understand. You'd make a GREAT "Shop Teacher"! Thank you.

[mikenone]

You are a great teacher. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[delkelso]

finishing is a topic that seems to be "avoided" in the workworking v-logs.  really thougtht this was very useful.  would like to see more on finishing and maybe even how to set up different finishes for spraying via hvlp spray guns...a constant source of frustration...at least for me.  THANKS FOR GREAT V-LOGS!!!

[RyanBellRyanofWeird]

Nice! I'll have to try this out on my next project. Currently, I use baking soda for various cleansing and 1/2 Tsp a day to a water bottle for drinking.