Antiquing: A Great Way To Revive Old Wooden Furniture

(HIT) - One way to restore the character of an old piece of wood furniture is to paint it using the antiquing process. With a little patience, information and elbow grease, any junk-shop piece or garage sale find can become a cherished family heirloom.

To achieve the antiquing effect, you can use a glaze or a wash. Oil-based glazes are used to create a very subtle, graduated impression. A glaze that contains white oil-based paint will give you slightly opaque results, or you can purchase a transparent oil glaze (sometimes sold under the name glazing liquid or glaze coat) for a totally transparent look.

To apply a glaze, use a soft brush to cover all the surfaces thinly and evenly. For a heavy antiquing effect, let the glaze dry overnight before blending and rubbing down. You will find that heavy antiquing looks better on country- or provincial-style furniture while urbane pieces need a much subtler look, achieved by leaving the glaze on until its just sticky to touch and then rubbing it down.

To produce a more convincing aged-effect, you should rub the parts of the furniture that get the most wear. Rub the areas gently with fine steel wool, lifting the glaze. Rub harder on places that get naturally worn like chair arms and backs, over the center of flat table tops, and the sides and front of drawers. Even if it appears that you have rubbed most of it away, just enough will deposit in the flaws of the paint finish.

As you work on your piece of furniture, stand back from time to time to see the overall effect. Try to make sure that the glaze blends gradually from light to dark without streaks, smears or sudden alterations. Remember to be gentle when rubbing over any painted decoration unless you want it to appear worn.

If you do choose to work with these glazes, be prepared to possibly wait as long as a week for the glaze to dry completely. For quicker antiquing, you can apply a wash. However, washes require more careful blending and they do not spread or stick as evenly over semigloss or gloss finishes. Washes work best over a flat and slightly absorbent paint finish.

When applying a wash, you should use a sponge or a rag. Let the wash dry for a moment, then rub the surface with lint-free rags bunched to make a soft pad, and blend with fine steel wool. Both glazes and washes should be readily available at specialty paint stores or shops that cater to the decorating trade.

For more information about antiquing and other special painting treatments, visit the National Paint & Coatings Association online at www.paint.org.

Courtesy: Home Improvement News and Information Center