Read This Before You Age Wood With Wool & Vinegar!!!

A few tips and tricks on How To Age Wood…without creating a huge mess or being disappointed.

When I first began creating delights for my Fairy Garden, I used a lot of popsicle sticks. I liked how they were pre-cut and functioned like mini boards but hated the way they looked like a kindergartner's craft project. Then, I saw a few posts and tutorials on how to instantly age wood. I was so excited! I ran right out and bought steel wool and white vinegar.

I love how the popsicle stick age using steel wool and vinegar but there was a lot the tutorials and articles left out. You can create a huge old mess if you’re not careful. So before you try it at home, read this for some tips and tricks…

1. Buy the right kind of steel wool. There are a few choices at your local grocery store. Get the kind without soap. I misread the label and had to scour my stove top and two pans to use up the gooey blue soap in my steel wool. The solution worked just right anyways, but you will save time and energy by carefully reading the package.

2. What ratio of steel wool to vinegar is best? I could not find a single article explicitly stating how much of each to use. I filled a pint jar with vinegar and added one steel wool pad. This was perfect.

3. How long do you let the solution sit? Overnight is best. Just screw the cap on and let it sit. I don’t know if the cap is necessary, but the solution smells like blood and is really strong. This prevented my whole house from reeking like a crime scene. The next day dip a piece of wood in and see how it "ages." If you like the way the woods looks, remove the remaining steel wool from your jar. This will keep your solution from getting darker and darker over time.

4. THIS IS SO MESSY! This solution “ages” wood because it actually stains the wood. This will also stain your fingers, nails, clothing, moss, counters, sink and anything else porous. Use gloves! The fingers were the worst, the skin under my nails was grey-brown for a few days. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get rid of it. Good news about your counter top, the stains scrub out using a bleach based cleaner and some steel wool. The best tip is to do this craft outside. In none of your favorite clothes.

5. This will not stain all wood products. It will stain popsicle sticks, bamboo skewers and toothpicks. It will not stain chopsticks from Panda Express or cute wooden blocks from Michael’s. Use a test piece of wood to see how it reacts to the stain before you get all of your mini building supplies in order. Also worth mentioning, if the wood gets wet in your garden the stain can leak and stain surrounding items, like glue or moss.

6. That being said, the aging is not actually “instant”. The final color is not apparent until the wood dries. This can take an hour or so. Be patient and wait to see how your wood transforms. I like to dip the wood into the solution the night before I want to build and let it dry overnight. Please note, wet wood glues horribly.

See how each piece of wood stains differently?

An aging rope bridge crafted from bamboo skewers and cute jute ribbon.