Purplish Grey Walnut- Oh how will thee fade with time???

[Karen Druska]

Hi, I have many walnut pieces but they all started life as medium to dark brown. With age they are now a honey amber colour. My new piece is Purplish- Grey- does anyone know what colour it will be when it fades? (ages) Will it still have a grey hue to it? Im deciding whether to change the doors- Thanks for your help. PS All pieces are in a room which gets a lot of natural light.

[Lee Schierer]

Unfortunately those colors are fleeting at best. Exposure to light will eventually turn all walnut a light brown color. Keeping the item in the dark will prolong the color, but even then it will fade eventually.

Some water based finishes contain lots of UV inhibitors and they will prolong the color.

[Bill Orbine]

Perhaps you could look into bleaching the walnut. Google is your friend for "AB bleach". Test on scraps to see if the desired results are achieved.

[Prashun Patel]

Most walnut I use fades with time. However, there are notable exceptions. I have made a slab table and lots of turnings that have stayed dark for years.

[Karen Druska]

Thanks. Good idea.

[Karen Druska]

Why do you think they didn't fade?

[Phil Mueller]

Not sure if you want it to fade, or keep it dark. If dark, use something like Watco that’s tinted...their medium or dark walnut will maintain the dark color, while nicely enhancing the grain.

[Karen Druska]

Thanks for the reply. I have three pieces built at different times. Two pieces started off as "Brown" and now are Amber. The issue is the new piece is Purplish Grey and I am afraid it won't fade to the same "colour family/ tone/hue" as the other two pieces. Someone said it isn't Black Walnut if it has a Purplish Grey Tone and it is Purple Heart - have you ever used this type of wood? or used Purplish Walnut?

[Jim Becker]

Air dried Black Walnut can have a number of different colorations within the boards including purples and even some hints of green. That said, over time, it also gets more amber with UV exposure, etc. Kiln dried Black Walnut is often steamed to render it all a somewhat even brown color for higher yields, but it, too, will amber out over time.

[Mark Gibney]

I recently made a stool from odd pieces of walnut I had. Some were darkish, some pieces were a warm brown.
I fumed the stool with ammonia and it all turned dark. Don't know how long that will last, and of course fuming a room is on a different order of difficulty and hazardous. Plus your existing walnut most likely has finish on it.

So I mention it in case in it'll be useful to you in the future.

[Karen Druska]

Very interesting. Did you take before and after pictures?

[Mark Gibney]

No I did not take before and after photos.

[Warren Lake]

it not always a consistent wood. They cheat it at times injecting a dye or maybe in the steaming process to colour sap wood. Ive picked from fresh piles before of top grade and some is heavy and dark and has great sound some of it light and purplish. One old guy I know his home has furniture he made maybe 40 years ago or more, colour of it all is beautiful, not here to tell me how he finished it but his wife does put teak oil on it once a year and has now found another oil that doesnt smell she likes better. Just a nice warm brown tone to it all.