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natural aging

S

squirrel

Joined
Sep 27, 2007
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Belgium
Hello,


when you look to 'antique' bowls or whatever made of wood , the overall color is dark brown - even if the fresh wood used to be nearly white colored ... it becomes brown after so many years.
Does anybody know what exactly happens with the wood which makes that - even without any treatment, wood colors brown with the years?


thanks a lot - Squirrel
 
I know that the nice vibrant color of fresh wood is soon lost with exposure to sunlight......could years of exposure to light, even if subdued within a home, have something to do with it?

ooc
 
Uv light will change the color of many woods
I saw a cherry dresser displayed in a store window with a sales tag hung from a pull.
The cabinet was nice deep red except under the tag where it was a pale brown.
The tag had blocked the light.

Sun exposure generally Improves the color of cherry.

Finishes with Uv inhibited will slow the color change but not stop it.

Al
 
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Something to think about. If it is a very old wooden bowl or bowls, with the use and having been handled over the years. The oils from the hands and or what ever was placed in the bowl might add to the coloring of the wooden bowls.

Gary:cool2:
 
Mark Levitski said:
Don't know the chemistry, but it's mostly the finish and not the wood I think, squirrel.
Click to expand...

Especially woods finished with linseed or walnut oil bases. The warm amber keeps darkening. Advantage for darker, undesirable for lighter woods. Or oil paintings! Then there's the soot from tallow candles and the grease from cooking indoors to add to the color. The practice of waxing embeds/retains soil as well.

Naked wood exposed to both light and wet bleaches rapidly.
 
MichaelMouse said:
.

Naked wood exposed to both light and wet bleaches rapidly.
Click to expand...

MM, isn't the exposure to light and wet also dependent to some extent on where the wood resides? For instance desert and sea shore will bleach to silver gray quite rapidly. Whereas wet and humid, even finished wood will become prone to black mildew in a few years.
 
As long as moisture doesn't remain on it, shouldn't make a difference. Look at the board and batten on the old shed (must be one somewhere around you) only black and nasty where it can wick from ground contact. Here, at least.
 
I had an old eastern ash bowl that I retired a couple of years back. When new, it was snow white, and at retirement, it was the color of aged osage orange. Yes, exposure to sun and oxygen contributed to the color. So did bar-b-q sauce, pizza, stir fry, blue berry syrup, salads, cheese cake, soups, enchiladas and burritos. Everything that went into it added to the color.

robo hippy
 
MichaelMouse said:
As long as moisture doesn't remain on it, shouldn't make a difference. Look at the board and batten on the old shed (must be one somewhere around you) only black and nasty where it can wick from ground contact. Here, at least.
Click to expand...

MM, We live in a 25+ year-old board and batten home. My southern and western exposures do very well. The eastern and obviously the northern no sun sides are a constant battle to keep the black at bay. The only ground contact is where the LOML gets a bit to ambitious with the topsoil or mulch in her flower beds.
 
I still wil campaign for the finish as the cause, even if it is BBQ sauce. Otherwise, sun bleaches my native species here in the Midwest (i.e., no finish, bare wood). Tropicals and exotics, I don't know anything.

Want to affect how your pieces age w/ respect to color? Research the finish you will use.
 
Hello,


yes, sure it is the exposure to 'environment' ... I have an ash bowl and a cherry on my shelf - no treatment on it, one of the first bowls I made - the ash was nearly snowy white and now, after 15 years or even more, they both are approximatively the same color.

But what I am interesting in is: WHAT exactly happens in the wood which makes the change of color. I know it is sun or light or oxygen but WHAT reacts in the wood and why?

Why do I want to know that? Because if there is a scientific explanation then it is probably possible to reveal this effect with artificial methods ... or not.
I wuld like to have bowls and platters for food nicely brown without of course, using stains and without having to wait for years ... but probably there is no solution other than waiting.

Sorry for my late answer ... I was very busy and thanks!
Squirrel
 
Cherry darkening, to deep red, can be accelerated by brushing with a dilute solution of lye (basic); almost immediate. Neutralize with vinegar (acidic), then wash with water. Oven cleaners (e.g. Easy-Off) usually contain lye as the main ingredient, if lye itself is harder to find.

Experiment on scrap first, of course. Outdoors. Wear gloves.

I don't know why cherry behaves this way.
 
Joe Greiner said:
I don't know why cherry behaves this way.
Click to expand...

Probably for the same reason you can fume oak with ammonia. Or cherry, I might add.

Instead of oxidizing with the help of the element and some UV, some chemical, presumably a tannin, is reduced and darkened.
 
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Hello,

yes, I know what the ammonia is doing and also vinegar + iron . I did not know lye was darkening cherry - that is new for me - thanks!
I'll give it a try on different kinds of wood.

But I'm wondering if it is safe to use this products on by example a bowl and then using the bowl for food - just like that: the bare wood, i mean, no oil or varnish treatment on the wood.

I'm pretty sure that it is unsafe to bleach wood in ustensils for food. I'm not sure if the fume of ammonia or darkening with lye would have disastrous consequences for the health. I think there is a chance that it causes no damage.

What is your opinion?
Squirrel
 
They wash and sterilize food-handling surfaces and equipment with ammonia or bleach. NOT AT THE SAME TIME. Dilution, as always is the solution to pollution. Rinse well after treatment.
 
hughie said:
Here you go

http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory...tect-wood-from-effects-of-UV-radiation-558582

and

http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory...ve-targets-water-based-coating-systems-575144

and this is probably the best, but pricey

http://www.dispersions-pigments.basf.com/portal/basf/ien/dt.jsp?setCursor=1_556319


and here you can request a sample from a North American supplier
http://www.innovadex.com/Coatings/Products/1/1157/UV-Absorbers---Light-Stabilizers/search?k=msds
Click to expand...

Hughie: Thanks for the info. Have you tried the Lignostab 1198? I would love to try it if I could get a sample. However the Innovadex is a Industral site for companies.
 
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