How To Age Wood To Make It Look Weathered

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Aged wood has a special charm with its unique color, texture, and depth that adds character to whatever its used for. However, it’s very hard to find old wood in its natural state — and reclaimed wood retailers tend to sell it at a high price. So, how can you make wood look weathered?

You can make your wood look weathered by applying a DIY wood stain made with vinegar and steel wool. You can also use a mixture of baking soda and water, or fake wear and tear with tools present around the house. Paint and other liquids like pre-mixed accelerators are additional options to try.  

With some DIY skills and a few tools at hand, you can easily make your wood look weathered. Let’s take a look at the steps involved in the different methods along with the tools you need for each.   

How Do You Make Wood Look Weathered?

Man carpenter in his home manufactory

There are many ways to make your wood look weathered, but before you start, keep in mind that different wood species age differently. That’s why it’s better to create a test board for the kind of wood you want to stain or age. Also, before you start, make sure that the wood is dry and clean. 

How to Weather Wood With Vinegar

If you want to give your wood an ashen-gray look that is quite similar to that of driftwood, then all you really need to do is apply a DIY wood stain using vinegar. The things you’ll need are:

Once you have these things ready, here’s what you need to do: 

  1. Tear up the steel wool, put it in a mason jar with around 1.5 cups of white vinegar, and close the lid.
  2. As the wool starts to rust, it will change the color of the vinegar. The color and darkness of the stain will vary depending on the amount of steel you use and how long you keep it in the vinegar.
  3. Once the solution is ready, take out the steel wool and dip a paintbrush in it. 
  4. Apply the solution to your piece of wood like you’d apply any ready-made/store-bought stain or paint.
  5. Remember that wet wood will look different once it dries out, so make sure that your treatments dry out completely before you decide whether you should add an additional layer. 

You can get a weathered gray look by soaking the wool anywhere from half an hour to two days. After half an hour, it’ll give you a subtle gray color, but if you want a darker shade of gray, you’ll have to wait about 2-3 hours. After two days, you’ll get a silvery-gray color.

Generally, it’s better to use light tints on blond woods and dark tints if you want to fade brown or red woods.

How to Get Warm Weathered Wood With Vinegar

You can also get a warmer weathered look using vinegar. The steps and materials are nearly the same. First, make a gray wood stain by soaking steel wool in distilled vinegar in a mason jar.

But instead of letting it sit for up to 2 days, let this mixture sit for a month to get a deeper, more rustic brown color. 

The steel wool might dissolve completely after a month, but if it doesn’t, make sure to take it out using rubber gloves or tongs. Then, here’s what you have to do:

  1. Test the resulting stain on the test board you created to see the final color and let it dry. If you find the color too dark, just add some water to dilute the solution.
  2. Once you’re satisfied with the color, use a paintbrush to apply the stain. 
  3. Lightly brush it on and wipe up the excess with a dry rag if it’s a little darker than you anticipated.
  4. As with the previous method, allow the wood to dry out completely before deciding if you want to add one more coat.

How to Weather Wood With Baking Soda

Baking soda on wooden table

The sun, combined with a solution of baking soda, can do wonders when it comes to adding years to wood’s appearance. However, this method will only work with tannic woods like red oak, mahogany, pine, cedar, and redwood, so make sure you check the kind of wood that the piece is made of before starting.

Also, make sure that you use untreated wood so that the baking soda can react with the tannic acid. If the wood is treated, strip it and sand it before moving forward with this process. The things you’ll need are:

  • Baking soda
  • Rags
  • Hard-bristle brush
  • Paintbrush
  • Sawhorse
  • Plastic container
  • Water
  • Drop cloth 

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Find a sunny area in your yard. If you’re weathering a couple of pieces of wood, you can set up sawhorses. This set from Amazon Basics (on Amazon) is a good option. If you’re weathering a furniture piece, use drop cloths.
  2. Mix equal parts of baking soda and water.
  3. Put thick coats of this baking soda paste on your wood with a standard paintbrush. Then let it dry in the sun for a minimum of 6 hours. You can speed up the reaction by spraying it with white vinegar after applying the mixture.
  4. Once the wood spends a good amount of time in the sun, use a hard-bristle brush to brush away the dried soda. 
  5. Rinse the wood with a dampened rag and dry it using a clean cloth. 
  6. You’ll now get a grayish tint, but if you want more impact, you can repeat the process.
  7. Once you’re done, you can apply any standard wood stain on the piece.

How to Weather Wood With Fake Wear and Tear

Imperfect texture adds authenticity to wood and automatically makes it look old. The good news is you can easily fake years of use with these things:

Here’s the process:

  1. Use blunt objects like crowbars and hammers to bang the wood. Make sure you target perfect edges.
     
  2. Put on your safety glasses and toss a bag of screws or nails against the wood to get a random pocking texture.
  3. Make striations by dragging steel wool or a coarse wire brush following the direction of the grain. 
  4. Use a hammer to tap a 1/16-inch drill bit or awl into the damage. This will create a damaged look caused by termites and worms. 

If you don’t have these tools, you can use whatever you have to wear down the wood. Finish up the process by sanding it to temper the look. Once you have the texture you want, you can work on altering the color.

How to Weather Wood With Paint

Another way to give your wood that weathered look is using paint. The things you’ll need for this method are:

Once you have the supplies, here’s what you have to do:

  1. Bang and hand-sand the edges using a hammer to get a rustic vibe.
  2. Use a dry brush to paint thin coats in 3-4 colors that suit your color theme. Apply the colors sparingly with one on top of the other and let the colors peek through. 
  3. You don’t need to wait for the wood to dry in between applications; the color blending will give the wood a more authentic weathered effect. Once you’re done, let it dry overnight.
  4. After a day or two, take out your orbital sander and use it on the machine. Keep in mind that imperfection and inconsistency are good and that your end goal is to get a rustic look.
  5. Wipe the dust that results from the sanding and apply a thin coat of your favorite stain on the wood. 
  6. Once it dries out, the resulting piece will appear as if it was made from wood reclaimed from a rustic, old barn. 

How to Weather Wood With Other Liquids

Hand with paintbrush on wood

The patina and color of the wood transform with age because of a number of factors. UV rays from the sun lighten up a dark wood, while moisture darkens a light wood with time. Similarly, the salty air on the seaside gives the wood a silvery-gray hue.

Luckily, it’s easy to recreate all these effects using liquids. So, in addition to the paint and vinegar discussed above, you can age wood with other liquids, too.

For instance, you can use a combination of stain and water. If you directly apply stain to your dry wood, you’ll get a less consistent result that doesn’t really give off an authentic weathered effect.

That’s why it’s better to lightly mist the piece with water from a spray bottle. By doing so, different parts of the wood will absorb the stain at various rates.

Alternatively, you can use pre-mixed accelerators. Many stain and paint manufacturers sell pre-mixed weathered wood accelerators, like Varathane Gray Wood Accelerator (on Amazon).

So, for instance, you can use water-based accelerators to create the look you like without going through all the trouble. Plus, the accelerators have many benefits, like color consistency, easy clean-up, and low odor.

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