subject: What Is Distressed Wood Finishing? [print this page] When you distress a piece of wood, you are deliberately producing it search older. This could possibly imply that you destroy or manipulate the current finishing on the object, in order to make it look less than perfect. You can do this with sandpaper, and also with anything like a paint stripper. Oftentimes, you might possibly take off some of the layers of paint, but not all of it, so there may possibly nonetheless be layers of paint that are visible more than a wood grain that is underneath. Right after you have distressed the item, you will have a finished product.
In a lot of techniques, distressing has turn into an art type, and a way to decorate furnishings and other products in a preferred and stylish way. Distressing is meant to give an item a vintage or 1-of-a-type search, which is usually supposed to be old and rustic.
Antiquing is a different form of distressing for wood furniture. When an individual does antiquing, they are not only attempting to make a piece appear older, but they are also trying to make the piece look like it is an antique. There are several distinct techniques that this can be completed. Initially of all, the finish is regularly distressed, meaning that sanders are applied to take off some of the paint and to make the entire thing appear like it is older. Secondly, the artisan often applies historically precise paint colors, and puts on an antique-like faux finish. In some cases, crackle varnishes are implemented. Oftentimes, in order to total the antiquing strategy of distressing, the artisan applies accent details that were only discovered in that particular period of time, like knobs on dresser drawers, or other specifics that would make the piece seem to be an antique. From time to time, glazes are used. With glazing, after distressing, the colors blend into the crevices, and give it an older or antique look. A number of occasions, if a particular person wants to continue the distressing in order to accomplish the antique look, it is a process that is going to take a long time, and one that may finish up being a lot of work.
Another aspect of distressing is putting in issues that are made to search natural. For instance, distressing sometimes includes placing in fake woodworm holes. These are holes in the piece that appear like they were produced by woodworms.
There are many strategies to actually distress an item, no matter if the artisan is executing antiquing or just distressing. Initially of all, they could possibly sand the finish off of the actual wood item. They could do this by hand or with an electric sander. Also, they could purposefully dent and scrape the object, in order to make it search like it has a lengthy background and has been moved around a lot.
Typically, wood is hammered in order to make it softer, and in some cases it is hammered to give it a dimpled look. It can also be bleached, stained, pickled, or repainted with paints and varnishes that crackle. These will then crack soon after drying, generating it appear that the paint or varnish has cracked due to age.
Occasionally, antique paints and varnishes are put to use, which also add to the look of an older, wooden item. One other method incorporates watering down regular paint, so that it seems to be faded and thinner than it would new. This permits other layers of paint, or the wood itself, to show by the paint layer. An additional distressing strategy calls for the pain or varnish to be layered on applying sponges, which will build an uneven pattern. When an area is painted, the corners and edges are typically painted lighter, or sanded down, so that the item appears to be worn.
The target of all of these diverse strategies of distressing is the exact same - for the object to seem as if it is older than it is, and for the object to appear as if it has been worn down and is not in as good of shape as a newer item. Distressed wood furniture is typically preferred simply because it appears to have extra character and to look like it has a story and history behind it. Therefore, distressed wood furnishings is actually rather popular - even if it is anything that a person tends to make for themselves. One can take a typical piece of furnishings and distress it so that it looks even greater.
