Thread: Does vinegar affect timber

It Ebonies it try some on a bit of scrap.

Originally Posted by Strungout

Hi again,

I was reading somewhere, to dissolve water based Aniline dyes faster,mix with a little bit of vinegar first ??

What affect would the vinegar have on the wood ?

Thanks
Greg

Vinegar is used as a mordant when dyeing wool and fabrics with aniline dyes. It's not necessary when staining wood. Vinegar will have no effect on bare wood – assuming it hasn't been contaminated with other chemicals. Iron in contact with vinegar can turn a blue-black colour.

I often add a cup of vinegar to half a bucket of hot water for washing down furniture. Our old kitchen table had a sycamore top which was washed weekly with bleach followed by vinegar and it was as white as the driven snow.

If we need to ebonize oak we use a solution of vinegar and iron filings it works very well.
All the best.
Anselm.

I used vinegar to clean up epoxy glue squeeze out on a set of 8 dining chairs I made & it was excellent!

Originally Posted by MajorPanic

I used vinegar to clean up epoxy glue squeeze out on a set of 8 dining chairs I made & it was excellent!

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Thanks for the tip Major. I will have to try that. I have just run out of Acetone ( Nail polish remover ) and was using some old linament which has 80% acetone in it.

I will try the vinegar out today and if it works ( when it works ) it will be this month's major learning achievement.

Thanks

Pete

I often paint/drown timber I am bleaching in vinegar and then leave it outside for a while or as WW says vinegar then bleach to get that nice white look.

Never tried vinegar with epoxy, but if you make a mistake with PVA glues it will soften them, as long as they haven't gone off completely. It doesn't seem to discolour the wood.

Alex,

I heard of this hint a couple of years before I made the dining chairs & have been using it ever since & it just a life saver