Cherry Hardwood Question

[Rich Riddle]

I know someone who believes if you store cherry in a totally dark room that the cherry will still "fade" if there is anything stored near it, such as boards stored next to one another. He really believes the air changes the wood's color, not light exposure. Have any of you ever heard of this?

[Myk Rian]

I haven't heard of that. I have cherry in the shed, which rarely gets light. Doesn't seem to have changed at all.

[Prashun Patel]

Not as crazy as it sounds. Light, oxygen, and exposure to other chemicals or metal can all cause color changes in all woods to varying degrees.

[Bob Wingard]

He is correct ... I purchased some 2"+ thick Cherry boards from a guy who had them stored in a dark crawlspace under his shop for at least 40+ years ... they are deep, dark red clear through, and probably haven't seen the light of day in decades. Lots of things will darken Cherry and eliminating one of them may slow the process, but won't stop it.

[Mel Fulks]

Well, it's possible the wood was darker to start with. Some years back when we bought a large amount of cherry at one time we said we would take some shorts,especially wide stuff. They sent a couple of bundles of old darker heart cherry.It
was significantly darker than what we usually get.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Some woods get darker with time and some get lighter. Cherry is one of those woods that naturally darkens as it ages. The only reason it would fade or get lighter is if it is bleached, such as by being in direct sunlight for extended periods.

[Brian Tymchak]

I have a stickered stack of 6,8/4 cherry that's been sitting in the unused side of our basement for about 18-24 months. The only exposure to light is a single 60 watt light bulb that is on maybe 10 minutes a day when we clean a litter box and then whatever low light comes through a doorway from my woodshop on the other side. I laid a couple of short cutoffs on the end of the top board when I stacked it and there is now a significant difference in coloration between the covered and uncovered. So I can believe that there might be some darkening even in low to no light.

[Prashun Patel]

"The only reason it would fade or get lighter is if it is bleached, such as by being in direct sunlight for extended periods."

Sunlight lightens some things, but not cherry lumber.

[Howard Acheson]

There are two factors that cause woods like cherry to change color. The first, and most aggressive is the UV in sunlight. The second is oxidation of the wood due to the oxygen in the air.

So, your friend is correct. Cherry will change color even if kept in a totally dark space.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Sunlight lightens some things, but not cherry lumber.

In general, you are correct, Prashun, but from my experience, I can say that there are exceptions. We have a maple and cherry dining room table that sits in front of a south-facing window and the parts of the table, both maple and cherry, that directly face the window have bleached to nearly white, much to my disappointment. ..And there's really no good way to repair the damage.

[Michael Kaplan]

+1. I have personal experience- at first sunlight darkens cherry, but after prolonged exposure to strong sunlight, the cherry will fade. I live in New Mexico and have a cabinet under an east facing window. The cherry top has faded after 5 years or so quite a bit, whereas the sides and front are still nice and dark.

[Judson Green]

This reminds me of a story I read in wood working magazine years ago.

The woodworker had just got done making a small cherry table and part of his routine (if possible) was to place cherry pieces out side in the sun for a while to darken the wood up a bit prior to finishing. So having placed the table outside he went back in and got busy doing something. Later came out to fetch the table and discovered the paperboy had been around and placed the newspaper on the table.

[Judson Green]

In addition to UV and oxidation, I believe cherry also has tannins.

[John TenEyck]

Curiously, your acquaintance said the wood would fade. I've seen cherry get darker when stored away from sunlight, but never lighter. The only thing that I've seen make cherry lighter (besides bleach) is prolonged exposure to sunlight. As others have mentioned, sunlight causes cherry to get darker up to a point, but will bleach it nearly white with long term exposure. Stored away from light oxidation causes cherry to turn darker, as Howard said, but I don't believe there's a maximum after which it will get lighter again.

John

[Rich Riddle]

My friend indicated that the first three days one mills cherry prove the most important for fading. Not sure where he heard it. Some of the things he hears are......well, unbelievable. But others might be closer to true. Still remember the day he indicated a river otter eats his weight in fish every day. Quite the fish story.

[Mel Fulks]

Rich, there is ONE otter that eats that much. On tv I saw Richard Simmons trying to get him to move his flippers "just five
more times".

[John Downey]

Your friend is wrong, unless he is using the word "fade" incorrectly to mean "become darker" :D

Oxygen darkens cherry. Moderate UV accelerates oxidation of whatever chemical it is in the wood that causes the color. Intense sunlight, like we get up where I live will bleach any wood to a much lighter color and then to a uniform grey. Might take several years for a finished piece in a sunny room to get bleached, or a raw piece left outside at 7000' in the summer takes about a month :D

[Lee Schierer]

He is correct ... I purchased some 2"+ thick Cherry boards from a guy who had them stored in a dark crawlspace under his shop for at least 40+ years ... they are deep, dark red clear through, and probably haven't seen the light of day in decades. Lots of things will darken Cherry and eliminating one of them may slow the process, but won't stop it.

I have some cherry that is also 50+ years old and it is dark all the way through. It has 20-30 growth rings per inch as opposed to the 10-12 growth rings per inch in recently purchased cherry. I know that it has not seen light for most of that time, but I also know that old growth cherry starts out darker than the new growth cherry we are harvesting today.

[johnny means]

Cherry will all eventually darken to a certain point. Light simply speeds the process. For instance, a built in cherry library will darken near windows faster than under the books, but the areas covered by books will eventually catch up. The color change is a chemical reaction and will happen regardless of exposure. Sunlight simply supplies an energy source to quicken the reaction.