Giving cedar a weathered look.

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

I searched the forum for previous posts and couldn't find anything on this subject. I'd like to know some tried and true techniques for giving cedar a grey weathered appearance, whether it be by staining, or treating with chemicals, or some other method. I've read about everything from baking soda and hot water, to vinegar and steel wool, to ordinary tea. I'm hoping someone here has some experience with this and has done it a few times with decent results.

I've read that a wire wheel will eat the softer wood away beautifully to expose the grain more, also. Does anyone have any tips on this?

Thanks for any and all feedback, and have a Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[Johnny Best]

The old kind of oven cleaner with lye. Experiment with putting it on and let it set for awhile, and then use a vinegar water solution or TSP water mixture to clean it off to get the gray weathered look. Wear gloves and mask because lye is really caustic and do outdoors to hose it all off.
I like to use gray transparent stain to make it look aged. It looks better and easier than the lye method.

 

[SignosaurusRex]

Depending on the desired finish and application, there are a number of techniques one can employ. If it is new unplanned rough cut stock, I prefer to pressure wash the face of the wood enough to remove the soft grain to a desired degree and let dry. Once the material is dry enough to work with, I will scrub the grain with a scrub brush in order to remove stray wood fibers and improve desired base. Sometimes I will lightly burn the grain with a propane torch and scrub with a brush. I have a variety of scrub and wire brushes that I might use...again, depending on desired grain exposure. For color and tone of finish, I prefer to mix my own transparent stains. If I'm mixing an oil base stain, I like to use a lot of Linseed oil or Penetrol for transparency. Latex base paints can be reduced to greater transparency with a clear base and/or water with a Alcohol added for faster evaporation and drying. With transparent stains, one can more easily regulate the desired finish color. For color application, I prefer to quickly brush on the stain and rub off the excess immediately, or apply and rub in with an old wash cloth or bath towel. Personally, I never really liked the Vinegar techniques. I also happen to enjoy using aged Cedar and Pines, that I salvage a lot of used wood and also keep some new stock in "weathering" storage. Experimentation can be more fun and rewarding than the project itself.

 

[neato]

The vinegar and steel wool trick works great. Plus you don't have to work with hazardous chemicals that way.

 

[Johnny Best]

The vinegar and steel wool trick works great. Plus you don't have to work with hazardous chemicals that way.

My mother who dealt in antiques called that process "pickling" because of the vinegar use.
Still like the transparent stain process and what the other poster talked about the pressure washer and scuffing it up beforehand.