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Any way to get cedar to weather quickly?

bessebo | Posted in General Discussion on May 20, 2010 01:19am

Hi,

  We’ve had to replace some cedar panels in our 10 year-old fence. Is there any way that we can speed up the weathering of the new cedar panels so that they will match sooner? Is there some type of treatment that can be painted onto the wood that will speed up the weathering to the silver gray of the other older panels? I don’t want to paint it…

 

Thanks,

Bessebo

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  1. davidmeiland | May 20, 2010 02:03pm | #1

    You could try

    Cabot's bleaching oil and weathering stain combination, but if you do anything at all those boards will look different forever. If you want them to look the same long-term you should leave them alone. It should only take 3-6 months for them to silver quite a bit.

  2. DanH | May 20, 2010 06:51pm | #2

    I've observed that TSP and oxalic acid (wood bleach) have essentially opposite weathering effects, though the extent of it depends on the type of wood and how weathered it is to begin with.  One approach would be to treat first with TSP (which tends to darken wood) and then oxalic acid (which essentially dissolves the dark stuff) to achieve the silver color.

  3. barmil | May 22, 2010 12:11am | #3

    Weathering Cedar

    Don't worry. If you do nothing, your fence won't last too many years anyway.

    1. User avater
      rjw | May 23, 2010 03:19pm | #7

      >>If you do nothing, your

      >>If you do nothing, your fence won't last too many years anyway.

      Cedar?

  4. User avater
    Mongo | May 22, 2010 11:31am | #4

    A pound of baking soda into a gallon of water, mix well, spray on, use sunlight to activate.

  5. User avater
    bluejae | May 22, 2010 01:08pm | #5

    It will weather to match in a few months, but if you take white vinegar, dip steel wool in it then wipe the wood with the soaked wool, this will darken the cedar. Be careful, you can easily turn the wood black.

  6. k1c | May 23, 2010 03:08pm | #6

    Similar to last post about vinegar and steel wool.  Check this site:  woodworking.org/WC/Garchieve01/3_27colorants.html.

    George Frank wrote about potassium dichromate.  About 13 years ago I tried this on white oak and got to dark grey (The dissolved liquid is orange).  I may have used too much or applied too many times, but it may start the cedar on its way.

    Always test first and apply as if you would on the actual wood, not on a furniture.  Hope it helps.

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