Category: how to.

You’ll remember that I picked up this already painted vintage suitcase while thrifting with my sister.

Before I say more, if by some crazy off-hand chance the person who painted this suitcase also reads my blog, then I apologize in advance for criticizing your work.  I’m hoping that the fact that this piece was donated to a thrift store means that the previous owner knew it was bad and just decided to unload it.  I hope it wasn’t a gift that someone ditched after receiving it.

When I saw this sitting there on the shelf I immediately thought to myself, I must rescue that suitcase from its bad stenciling job!

To be fair, I’ve shown you the worst of the stenciling in that ‘before’ shot above.  It’s also stenciled on the other side …

Slightly better, but still not good.

Mr. Q is always reminding me that I tend to make stuff look easy, and that for some people it’s not easy at all.  Maybe this is a good example of that.  Maybe the painter of this suitcase dove right in thinking ‘Q makes it look so easy, I’m sure I can just whip this up!’  So for those of you who also struggle with stenciling, I thought I’d share some tips for improving your odds for success.

No. 1 – First and foremost, pay attention to which items are good candidates for stenciling and which ones are not.  In this instance, the pebbled surface of this case will make it tough to get a clean result with a stencil no matter how good your skills.

No. 2 – It’s easier to get a crisp result if your surface has a little ‘tooth’ to it (tooth refers to the grain of your surface, it’s what allows paint to bind to the surface).  Slick, shiny surfaces like the semi-gloss aqua paint on this case have very little ‘tooth’ and will allow your paint to slid around a bit more.  A matte finish will work much better for stenciling, as will non-glossy fabric or paper.

No. 3 – Use a thick paint for the actual stenciling.  Dixie Belle paint straight out of the jar is perfect for stenciling.  I also use the cheap acrylic craft paint that you can buy at any craft store because it tends to be nice and thick.

No. 4 –  Use a proper stenciling brush.  It should have densely packed bristles that are a bit more stiff than your typical paint brush, but also have some flexibility.  I have used the inexpensive Martha Stewart brand stenciling brushes that you can find at Michaels, but you get what you pay for.  The ferrule has come unglued from the handle on most of mine (granted, they got A LOT of use).  The re.design with prima brushes are better quality, and I really love this large one for bigger stenciling jobs.

No. 5 – always, always, always off-load most of the paint on your brush before using it.  I know this feels wasteful because you’re leaving 75% of your paint behind on a paper towel, but trust me, it is crucial for a crisp result.  I probably should have made this tip no. 1 because it is definitely the mistake I make most frequently myself, especially when I’m feeling impatient.

In the end, if stenciling just isn’t your cup of tea, then my next piece of advice is to keep it simple and use a transfer instead.  That’s what I decided to do with this suitcase.

But first things first, I opened it up to look for hidden treasure.  I’m always hoping that I’ll find someone’s secret stash of cash, or maybe a long lost Van Gogh, inside a thrift store purchase.  So far no luck on that, but a girl can dream.

The lining of this case is actually in pretty good condition and kind of pretty.

The color isn’t really working with the aqua though, is it?

So as much as I love a good aqua, and as much as I loved it on this suitcase while it was closed, I felt like I needed to switch to a color that worked well with the lining.  I decided to stay neutral with Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.

Inevitably someone is now going to ask me for a tip on freshening up the smell of an old suitcase, and I have to admit that I don’t have one.  I’ve found that since they generally are stored closed up tight, over time the smell returns no matter what I’ve tried.  As a result, I use my old cases for looks only.  Or for storing things that won’t pick up the smell, like my vintage glass Christmas ornaments or craft supplies.  I would never store clothing or other fabric items inside.

Once the paint had dried overnight, I pulled out the Royal Burgundy transfer. If you’re keeping track at all, this will be the 3rd small project I’ve done with this one transfer.  I’ve already used it on a wooden jewelry box and a pair of ice skates.  I still have a pretty good sized chunk of it left after doing this suitcase as well.  Just something to keep in mind when looking at these larger transfers that are one solid design.  You can always break it up for smaller projects.

I did have to line up a seam to cover the whole top of the suitcase and I didn’t get it exactly perfect.

But I don’t think too many people are going to focus on that when looking at the bigger picture.

Also, if you’re wondering, I trimmed the transfer to fit the circular top before removing the backing paper and then applying the transfer.

I ended up painting the handle of the suitcase in Dixie Belle’s Putty for a little contrast.

  The Putty is an almost perfect match to the color of the background words on the transfer.

I wanted to add just a little something more, so I added the word ‘Beautiful’ from the Hopeful Wishes transfer.

You may have noticed that I sanded the edges and the handle to distress the paint job a bit.  You’re always going to see hints of previous paint jobs when you do this, and sure enough you get glimpses of the old aqua here and there.

I finished off the case with a coat of clear wax to give it that subtle patina that only wax can impart.

I think you’ll agree that this vintage suitcase has been rescued from a bad stenciling job.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co and re.design with prima for providing the supplies used for this suitcase makeover.

If you’re looking for Dixie Belle products you can find them here.

Both the Hopeful Wishes and the Royal Burgundy transfers are from re.design with prima.  If you’re looking for re.design with prima products you can find local retailers here, or online sources here.

And finally, if you are local and in need of a gorgeous vintage suitcase, I’ll be taking this one in to Reclaiming Beautiful this week.

I’ve been experimenting a bit lately with Prima Marketing’s Modeling Material and molds.

I am still a total newbie at using them and am learning as I go.  I don’t want to attempt a full on tutorial with you guys because I’m definitely not an expert.  Instead here is a link to a YouTube video by CeCe ReStyled which is very in depth.

I do have a few tips for you that I’ve learned so far though.

My first tip is to sprinkle a little corn starch into your mold before using it.  This will help ensure that the molded clay pops out easily.

My next tip is to be aware that the clay shrinks a bit as it dries.

Most of the time this isn’t going to be an issue, but it came into play for me when working with the Regal Filaments mould.

When I took my modeling material out of the mould the long pieces came apart in a few spots.

I didn’t think that would be a problem, I could just glue them in place and no one would ever know.  However, as they dried the gaps grew larger because the pieces also shrunk.

If I had let these dry before gluing them in place, I could have tightened up those gaps.  However, you should also know that the clay becomes hard and brittle once fully dry.  It may also warp a bit.  In other words, you won’t be able to shape it, and it may not lay flat.  So it might work better to glue your clay in place before it dries fully.

I believe the best solution is to let your material dry for about an hour before taking it out of the mold.  It will still be somewhat pliable at that point, but also it will have firmed up just a bit.  You can then glue it in place before letting it dry fully.

Despite that shrinkage, I still think this particular piece still turned out nicely.

It’s an old cupboard door that I painted in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, then added the clay molds along the sides, some Hobby Lobby knobs at the bottom and one of Prima Marketing’s Floral Home transfers.

So far I’ve used a small bee mold on this raised cake plate …

I’ve used a decorative flower mold on this small jewelry box …

And I used the Seawashed Treasures mold on the cupboard doors I shared with you on Monday.

I’m having lots of fun playing around with these molds, but I don’t want to hog all the fun just for myself.  So today I’m giving away the 2 lb. bucket of Modeling Material, plus 5 molds, Baroque Swirls, In Bloom, Italian Villa Scrolls, Leafy Blossoms and Greco Crest.

Thank you to Prima Marketing for providing all of the goodies for today’s giveaway!

The rules:  to be eligible to win today’s prize leave a comment on this blog post letting me know what kind of project you would like to use these molds on.  Your comment must be left on the blog, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Friday, July 26, 2019 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $75, if the prize is not claimed by Sunday, July 28, another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

Good luck!

I always joke that I like to learn things the hard way.  But really, that isn’t too far off the mark.  Over the years I have accumulated a fair amount of knowledge about painting furniture that was mostly acquired by making mistakes and then learning from them.

I know there are other (and most would say better) ways to learn, such as taking a class or workshop.  I’ve taken a couple of workshops in my day too.  They are absolutely great for learning the basics, but you can’t learn every last detail in the space of just a few hours.  Another way to learn is by reading blogs like mine.  We make the mistakes so that you don’t have to!

In the long run, experience ultimately comes from practicing, trying things out, and yes, making mistakes.

So today I thought I’d share some of the lessons I’ve learned by making mistakes.

No. 1 – Do not apply a furniture transfer over freshly applied wax.

I wanted to use dark wax over bare wood on this piano stool seat to add some color.  For some reason, I thought I needed to wax before adding the transfer.  Big mistake.  The rubbing motion that you use to apply a transfer creates friction, friction creates heat, heat turns freshly applied wax and the adhesive of the transfer into a sticky gooey mess.  I simply couldn’t get any more of that transfer to adhere to the stool.

By the way, this experience also taught me that it’s fairly difficult to remove a transfer too.  Even though parts of this transfer wouldn’t adhere at all, the parts that did adhere were stuck down good.  I tried using mineral spirits and a scrubbing pad and after lots of elbow grease I only got this far …

The fix.

I broke out the orbital sander and sanded the entire seat down to bare wood.  Then I stained the stool top to give it some color.  Next, I added the transfer, followed by wax.  It turned out beautifully.

A little sidebar:  I refinished that stool in March 2018, long before I painted my piano black.  Then I sold it.  Kicking myself now because this stool would be perfect with my now black piano!  I’ll be on the hunt for another like it while garage saling this summer.

q tip:  If you decide you simply must have a transfer on your piece but you’ve already waxed it, you will need to wait 30 days for the wax to cure before adding the transfer.  Or you could remove the wax with mineral spirits, but who wants to go down that road?

 

No. 2 – Do not use Color Change Wood Filler when painting a piece with milk paint.

This is the Elmer’s Carpenter’s Color Change Wood Filler.  It goes on purple and when it turns white you know that it’s dry.  The packaging says it is paintable and stainable.  So it seemed like a reasonable choice at the time.  The problem is, because milk paint is much thinner (ie. more watery) than other paints it turns the filler back to purple!  I suspect this might happen with chalk style paints too, but I’ve never tried it.

I used it on a desk that I was painting with Miss Mustard Seeds Marzipan.  Not only did the paint turn purple, but I then tried sealing it with Tough Coat and repainting, but the purple still bled thru that too (keep in mind that Tough Coat is not intended to seal bleed thru, I just thought I’d try it).

The fix.

Since it was summer, I used some spray paint primer to block the purple bleed thru.  Then I repainted the entire side of the desk with the Marzipan.

 

No. 3 – Do not use the Prima Marketing Décor stamps with ink over milk or chalk paint without a topcoat.

This pair of nightstands were perfect for trying out the Decor Stamps.  However, I had painted them with milk paint and hadn’t added a top coat yet.  Because milk paint is so porous it soaked up the ink like a sponge and the pretty stamp that started out looking crisp and fabulous bled into the paint and after about 10 minutes it ended up looking like a fuzzy mess.

After realizing the error of my ways, I painted a test board with several different treatments and then tried the stamp over them.

The fix.

I repainted the nightstands with Fusion’s Putty, and then tried again with the stamps.  This time it worked perfectly!

q tip:  If you want to use a Decor stamp with ink over milk paint, be sure to seal your milk paint with a water based sealer such as Miss Mustard Seeds Tough Coat or The Real Milk Paint Co’s Finishing Cream.

 

No. 4 – Even if you don’t see any stain bleeding through your piece before you apply a sealer, a water based sealer can pull the stain through your paint.

I painted this linen press using Rachel Ashwell paint.  I don’t think this product is even around anymore.  I’m guessing she tried the paint thing, found it to be super competitive, and it fizzled.  But you can get this result with any paint when you add a water based top coat.  It’s super frustrating because your piece looks amazing before you add the top coat.  Also, the bleed thru can take a while to show up.  So you might think you’re done, and then a day later start to see bleed thru.

It’s really hard to know when this is going to happen.  Over time, with experience, you’ll get a feel for judging whether or not a stain might bleed.  But sometimes it just sneaks up on you.

The fix.

I used Rachel Ashwell Clear Primer to seal the piece, repainted and then finished with the water based topcoat.

 

No. 5 – When all else fails, follow the directions.

I really loved that Rachel Ashwell brand Clear Primer, too bad it’s no longer available.  However, another great product for blocking bleed thru is Dixie Belle BOSS (blocks odors, stains, stops bleed thru).

However, be sure to follow the directions.  I used it to block an ink stain on the inside of a drawer and the first time around it didn’t work, even though I had used two coats of the BOSS.

So I went back and read the instructions which said to allow for a longer drying period.

The fix.

I added two more coats of BOSS and let it dry overnight and it worked like a charm.

Yep, my dad was right, when all else fails, read the directions.

 

No. 7 – Be sure to mix your milk paint really well, especially the shades of green.

True milk paint is made with just five ingredients; casein (milk protein, hence the name milk paint), chalk, clay, oxide (natural pigments) and limestone.  It comes in powder form and you mix it with water when you are ready to use it.

Some of the pigments used are heavier than others.  Because of that, they tend to settle to the bottom of your container as you’re using the paint.

As a result, if you paint most of your dresser one day and then paint the final bottom drawer on another day after your handyman has fixed it you can end up with an entirely different color.

Yep, not a good look.  That bottom drawer definitely has a lot more of the blue pigment compared to the others.

I learned a couple of lessons from this one.  First of all, when using milk paint, mix your paint before you start prepping your piece.  Let it sit while you prep allowing the pigments time to fully dissolve.  Next mix your paint well again before starting to paint.   Also, frequently give your paint a little stir as you are painting.  And finally, be sure to paint the final coat on your entire piece in one sitting and with one batch of mixed paint.  If you’ve painted the first coat and realize you don’t have enough paint left for the entire final coat, be sure to add more paint to your mix before starting the last coat.

For more milk paint tips, check out my Milk Paint Basics post.

The fix.

I mixed a new fresh batch of Miss Mustard Seeds Luckett’s Green and repainted the entire dresser in one go.

I hope you’ve learned a thing or two from this post.  I’m sure I’ll keep on making mistakes and I’ll continue to share them with you so that you don’t always have to learn things the hard way.  You can do as I say, not as I do.

If you have any lessons you’ve learned the hard way, be sure to share them with us in a comment.

Several months ago Prima Marketing sent me a box full of goodies.  Included in the box were several jars of this stuff …

Chalk paste.

It sure does come in some pretty colors.  This pale blush pink is called Hubbard Squash.

And it has the most deliciously creamy, thick consistency, sort of makes me want to spread it on a cake.  But I’m pretty sure that’s not what it’s for.

So I wondered, what exactly is this stuff?

I’d never heard of chalk paste and had no idea what to do with it.  So I did some googling and it seems to be a sort of cross between chalk paint and a texture paste.  I found that a popular option is to use it with a stencil to create a raised design.

It was time to do some experimenting.

I happened to have this pair of oval wooden plaque thingies that my picker found at a garage sale for 25 cents each.  Perfect for experimenting.

Experiment no. 1 – I painted the oval in a pale blush color that sort of matched the Hubbard Squash chalk paste.  Then I pulled out Prima’s Lenore Corners raised stencil which is .04″ deep.  These thicker stencils are perfect for this technique.

Next I used a putty knife to smooth the Hubbard Squash chalk paste over the stencil.  I made sure that the openings in the stencil were fairly uniformly filled in with the paste and then pulled the stencil away.

I let the chalk paste dry overnight to be sure it was good and set up.  Then I sanded it lightly to smooth out any rough edges.

Next I pulled out some of Prima Marketing’s Decor Wax in a color called Diamond Dust.  The Diamond Dust is a pale, iridescent gold.  I used a q-tip to lightly apply it just to the raised sections of the stenciled chalk paste.

It accented the raised stencil just enough and I thought this might be a very pretty look on the right piece of furniture.

Experiment no. 2 – For  the 2nd oval I painted the base in a medium shade of greige and then used the off-white Vintage Lace chalk paste with Prima Marketing’s Madelia Gardens stencil.

In this case there is more of a contrast between the color of the base coat of paint and the color of the chalk paste.  As you can see, I did get some seepage from the chalk paste under my stencil.  I didn’t especially like the look of that, so after sanding the dried chalk paste to smooth it out, I painted over the entire oval with some Dixie Belle paint in Drop Cloth which improved the look.  Then I added a segment of Prima Marketing’s Endless Story transfer to the remainder of the oval.

From this experiment I concluded that chalk paste stenciled over a contrasting color of paint is probably not a good look for me.  The look of that seepage under the stencil is too messy for me.  However, I really like the subtlety of a uniform color over the entire thing.

Experiment no. 3 – I pulled out the last two wooden plates I had from Prima Marketing for a third experiment.  This time I first painted the plates using Dixie Belle’s Gravel Road.  Then I used the Iron Gate chalk paste, which is a dark charcoal grey similar to the Gravel Road.

Again, once the chalk paste had set up, I sanded it to smooth out any rough spots.  Then I painted over the whole plate with Dixie Belle’s Vintage Duck Egg.  Once that was dry I sanded it back to reveal some of the original color of the Iron Gate chalk paste.

As you can see, each of these techniques gives a slightly different look.  None of them are right are wrong, it just depends on the look you like.

I can’t really say I have a favorite, although I tend to prefer more subtle looks like the white paint over the white chalk paste.  It’s just enough to provide a hint of texture without being too much.

How about you?  Which one is your favorite?  And have you ever tried chalk paste?  If so, what did you do with it.  I’d love to know, so be sure to leave a comment.

Thank you to Prima Marketing and Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the products used for these projects.

In the past I know that I have been able to continue painting in my unheated carriage house workshop well into October.  Usually October is one of my favorite months weather-wise; cooler, but not too cold.  Perfect for painting outside.

But for the last two weekends in a row we haven’t made it out of the low 50’s.

Despite the temps, I had some pieces out in my workshop that I really needed to get painted.  Since I planned to use Dixie Belle paint on them I reached out to my contact there to find out if it was OK to use their paint in the cold.  The official answer is yes, you can apply the paint outside if the temps are in the 50’s.  However, it will take longer to dry.

And of course, I’d have to pile on the fleece to be comfortable myself too.  Plus keep in mind that Dixie Belle paint should not be allowed to freeze.  Freezing and thawing again may affect the integrity of the paint.

So in the long run, even though I could have painted in my workshop, I opted to move my painting operations back indoors.  Luckily Dixie Belle paint is non-toxic and has zero VOC’s, so I’m perfectly comfortable with using it indoors with the windows closed to keep out the cold.

Since low temps below freezing are predicted for this coming weekend, I realized it was time to move all of my painting supplies back inside the house too.  This seems like a good opportunity to remind everyone of some cold weather painting tips for the three types of paint that I use most.

Milk paint is probably the most cold weather hearty paint that I use.  I’m referring to authentic milk paint that comes as a powder that you then mix with water when you’re ready to use it (Miss Mustard Seed, Homestead House, The Real Milk Paint Co and Sweet Pickins are all true milk paints).  General Finishes Milk Paint is not a true milk paint, but an acrylic paint, FYI.

Although I can’t find any definitive information about it online, I’m sure I could get away with leaving the milk paint powder packets out in the workshop in temps below freezing as long as I warmed it back up a bit before mixing it with water.  I wouldn’t choose to store it out there all winter of course, but if I forgot it out there for a few freezing nights I’m betting it would be fine.

Once mixed milk paint only has a shelf life of a few days.  Plus it is recommended that you store it in the fridge overnight if you aren’t going to use it right away.  So leaving mixed milk paint in a chilly workshop would be OK, but don’t allow it to freeze at that point.

Also, it’s OK to paint with mixed milk paint outside all the way down to freezing.  Just keep in mind that it will take longer to dry and you’ll freeze your butt off while doing it.

Fusion Mineral Paint is freeze/thaw stable.  It has been formulated to withstand freezing and then thawing up to three times without affecting the integrity of the paint.  So if you forget to bring your paint inside when the weather turns, you have three chances to get it inside before it starts to feel the effect.

Well, that makes sense eh?  Fusion is a Canadian company and they know cold.

Also, much like the Dixie Belle and milk paint, you can apply the paint in temps down into the 50’s but it will take longer to dry.

As for safety, all three of these paints are perfectly safe to use indoors with the windows closed.  Each one has zero VOC’s, and all three have very little odor.  Since I typically spend nearly six months out of 12 painting inside (more like seven this year apparently) this is an important quality to me.

This is a good time to remind you guys that not all waxes are created equal when it comes to safety.  If you didn’t see my previous post about that, you can find it {here}.  Please stay safe, especially when working indoors with little ventilation!

And if you’re wondering what I did get done last weekend, I finished up five pieces all painted with Dixie Belle’s Caviar.  I’ll be sharing them with you next week, so be sure to stay tuned!

 

After I brought home the pretty little copper watering can from the Roseville garage sales, I decided that I should try polishing it up.

I’m not usually a polish-er.  I prefer my silver tarnished rather than freshly polished, for example.  But I wanted to see what this piece would look like all spruced up.

So I googled how to polish copper and discovered that you can just use a lemon and some coarse salt, no need to use harsh chemicals.

And you don’t specifically need Kosher salt, but it’s what I happened to have on hand at the moment.

The process is simple.  Cut your lemon in half, dredge the cut side in the salt and then use it to scrub the copper.

It took a little elbow grease, but not much.  As an added bonus the lemon smells fantastic, and your hands get a bit of spa treatment at the same time.

I found it a little hard to get into tight crevices, and it didn’t turn out perfect, but not bad for just using a lemon and some salt.

Since I had a watering can, and my gardens are looking quite fab at the moment, it seemed like I should take some photos in the garden.  Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that we don’t have a repeat of last year’s hail storm that shredded all of my hostas.

‘Cuz right now they are looking pretty fine.

On the bright side, that means none of the damage from last year was permanent.  But they never really did ever look good again last season.

Knock on wood.

Now go find some copper, lemons and salt and get polishing!

 

Off and on this past winter I’ve been working on a new page for my blog, the ‘how to’ page.

I thought it would be convenient to have one spot where readers can more easily find posts on specific products or techniques.

Over the years I’ve shared lots of tutorial posts, but there wasn’t a convenient way to go back and find them.

Now you can just go to my ‘how to’ page and simply click on a photo collage (like the one above) and a link will take you directly to a post with all of the details about that product or technique.

Take a look at the page and let me know what you think.  If you have any requests for a specific how-to, leave me a comment and I’ll try to add it in the future!

You’ve probably heard the terms ‘cerused’, ‘lime waxed’, ‘pickled’ or ‘white washed’.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wondered what the difference is between them.

Well, I did some slapdash online research and today I’m here to clear that up for you.

First of all, all of these treatments are designed to lighten up the look of a wood surface without covering up the grain.  They just achieve that in different ways.

How to ceruse or lime wax wood.

Let’s start with ‘cerused’ or ‘lime waxed’.  These two are basically the same thing.  According to gohaus.com:  Back in the 1500’s, the French invented a technique of filling in the grains in oak beams and paneling with a toxic paste derived from lead. This was initially done to help prevent rot in oak beams. … Today that stylish finish is still called limed oak in Europe and here in the US we call it cerused wood or cerused oak.

Oak is the best wood for a cerused or lime waxed look because it has an open grain that gives the best effect, however you can use this treatment on other woods like pine or maple.  You just won’t see quite as much definition in the grain.

Instead of using a toxic paste derived from lead (ewwwww), I recommend using a much more environmentally friendly white wax such as the Miss Mustard Seed or Homestead House white wax (same thing, different labels).  I know there are other manufacturers of white wax out there (if you have a favorite, feel free to share that info in a comment), but be sure to pay attention to the ingredients of your wax before using it indoors or without gloves.  To read more about the safety of wax products check out this post.  I like that fact that the Miss Mustard Seed and Homestead House waxes don’t contain any aromatic hydrocarbons (cancer causing particles that are present in some other brands of wax).

To prep your surface for lime waxing first strip off any existing finish.  I like to use Citristrip for this, but if you’re a sander instead of a stripper you can go that route too.  If you use a chemical stripper be sure to neutralize the surface with some vinegar water afterwards and then rinse with clear water.  Either way, you want to be sure to completely remove any previous finish.

The next step is to raise the grain of your wood.  The recommended technique is to use something called a bronze brush to brush the wood in the direction of the grain.  You may be wondering, why not just your basic steel brush?  That’s because steel particles that might be left behind can cause oxidization in your wood which will show up as black streaks over time (read this article for more detail).  By the way, did you know that the same is true of using steel wool on wood furniture?  I have a feeling that someone probably used either a steel brush or steel wool on a dresser I worked on a few months ago.

I don’t happen to own a bronze brush though, and I don’t want to invest in one just for lime waxing.  So I read somewhere that you can scrub your wood with a green 3M scotch pad and a little water to get a similar effect.  Also, this step is optional.  The purpose of raising the grain is to give the wax more spots to get stuck in, ie. to emphasis the grain more.  If that’s not a big deal to you, you can just skip this step.

Next work the wax into your wood.  You can use a wax brush or a cloth for this.  Start with a circular motion to get the wax worked into the wood.  Follow up with a clean cloth moving with the grain to remove any excess wax, switching to a clean section of cloth as it becomes clogged with wax.

And that’s it.  Pretty simple, right?  It’s kind of hard to go wrong with this technique.  Since the wax is a protective top coat in itself, you avoid the extra step of having to add a topcoat.

You can mix white wax with clear wax if you want less white.  You can add a second coat of white wax if you want more white.

I used the Homestead House white wax on the top of this table.

 

How to white wash or pickle wood.

White washing or pickling gives a similar look but is done with either watered down white paint or a commercially made white wash or pickling stain.  According to my research, white washing and pickling are very similar treatments but not exactly the same thing.  When a piece is white washed, the stain or paint is applied with the grain and is best suited for woods like pine.  When a piece is pickled, the stain or paint is applied against the grain and this treatment is best suited for oak.  Personally I think that’s a rather fine distinction and that most people use these two terms interchangeably.

The prep process for white washing or pickling is the same as for lime waxing, and once again you can choose to raise the grain or not.

For the next step you can either use a white washing or pickling stain, or watered down white paint.  If you plan to use watered down paint, I recommend preparing your solution and testing it on a spare piece of wood first.  Actually, wait a minute, I recommend testing the stain first too now that I think about it.  The ratio of paint to water is going to depend somewhat on how opaque you want it to look so a little experimenting before you start your project will really pay off.  You can use any kind of water based paint for this technique, I like to use chalk paint.

Next liberally apply the stain or watered down paint to your piece with a brush allowing a minute or two for it to soak in, then use a rag to wipe away the excess.  You’ll go through a lot of rags, so be sure to have them on hand and ready to go.  I used heavy duty paper towels when I white washed my cedar dining room table.

As you can see, white washing tones down the orange color of the cedar but still allows the characteristics of the wood to show (the knots and grain).

Once your paint or stain is fully dry, sand your piece with a fine grit sandpaper.  Finally with this method you’ll also need to add your protective top coat of choice.  I used Miss Mustard Seed’s clear furniture wax on my table.

You can read more detail on the white washing process I used on my dining room table here.

I hoped you’ve learned a thing or two about white washing v. lime waxing today.  Check back later on Wednesday when I’ll share a piece where I used both techniques together.  Sort of.  In the meantime, be sure to pin this post for future reference!