Walnut coloring due to aging

[Brian Runau]

Is it true walnut will lose it's brown coloring over time and go light tan like this if left unstained, but with a finish coat of some sealer of some kind? If yes, how long does it take for the wood to do this? Thanks Brian

walnut color change.jpg

[roger wiegand]

Depends how much light it's exposed to. I have a walnut border in my floor and where it passes in front of a big floor to ceiling window it became almost indistinguishable from the maple floor in about four years. Similarly other walnut furniture we have has faded to a light brown over 5-7 years in the house. Finish does not seem to make a big difference, but I'd expect a spar varnish (eg with UV inhibitors) the color would last longer.
Things I want to remain dark I now dye with TransTint. They start off too dark, but then shift to the desired color over time.

[Prashun Patel]

It is true that it is a possibility. I have made many walnut pieces of all sorts. I've stained none of them. The higher exposure to UV light, the more it will fade/turn orange. I've built pieces with Cherry and walnut because I thought the contrast was nice - only to have them become indistinguishable a decade later. I also have several pieces that are years later as dark as the day I finished them, so YMMV.

If you dye your piece, you also have to beware that some dyes are UV sensitive, so you may experience a different change.

My advice is to use a UV-inhibiting finish and keep the table away from windows if the change really bothers you, knowing that this will at best only slow down the inevitable change. But, (unsolicited opinion alert): every time I see my "faded" walnut coffee table, it's a beautifully humbling reminder of the power of time, nature, wood, and light. So, I personally wouldn't do anything to artificially alter that...YMMV.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

We have a family tradition of Walnut pig cutting boards going back 5 generations. They are all quite faded except for the 1920 patriarch. It is still a very lovely, very dark classic walnut color. I sure wish I knew why and how.

[Jim Becker]

Is it true walnut will lose it's brown coloring over time and go light tan like this if left unstained, but with a finish coat of some sealer of some kind? If yes, how long does it take for the wood to do this? Thanks Brian

walnut color change.jpg

Typically, walnut gets lighter over time with UV exposure. Most of the air dried black walnut off our previous property became a nice golden brown over time.

I actually learned a lesson with this with a few projects I did years ago. I combined "dark" black walnut with cherry. The contrast was striking and beautiful...until the wood aged. The cherry got darker. The walnut got lighter. Both to the point that they were about the same "darkness", albeit with a slightly different hue.

[Andrew More]

Built a walnut mail box which sits on a covered porch facing south east. I noticed it had lightened up in about a month, it achieved it's current look in about 6 months.

[glenn bradley]

Walnut does lighten with age. I have a dresser that caught the morning sun on the lower portion for a decade and the color difference is obvious. I now combat this with a color coat that mimics oiled walnut. The pieces don't look colored when new but, retain that color better over time.

[John TenEyck]

As mentioned, if you want to keep the color constant, or change as little as possible, you need to use a finish with a dual UV package. The only one I personally know of is SW's KemAqua Plus, but there are others. Note that I didn't say a finish with a UV package, I said DUAL UV package. The first UV inhibitor is typically a tin based compound. It protects the finish itself. The second UV inhibitor protects the underlying wood. Those compounds are called HALS, for hindered amine something something.

Another way to minimize fading is to use a pigmented stain under your clearcoat. Many folks think that's a sin, but a lot of commercial furniture uses stain, and sometimes dye then stain, so the color will remain nearly constant over time. It all depends upon what your objectives are. I personally am not a fan of faded walnut so I typically dye the pieces I make with Transtint dark walnut dye and then clearcoat, and keep the pieces away from direct sunlight.

John

[Jeff Roltgen]

I agree with John. I too, in my early WW days, thought it a complete travesty to stain walnut. A friend displayed an accent chair in the atrium of his office building for a year or so until I got it back. It had turned pumpkin orange.
Now, I almost always stain walnut. Best part is, many choices will give you a pleasing, natural depth of color, as opposed to staining another species to look like walnut. Black is often reached for, especially with current trends for neutrality in color selection, but even plain old Minwax dark walnut evens things out and deepens the color without looking contrived.

Good info on the dual UV package.

[Brian Runau]

As mentioned, if you want to keep the color constant, or change as little as possible, you need to use a finish with a dual UV package. The only one I personally know of is SW's KemAqua Plus, but there are others. Note that I didn't say a finish with a UV package, I said DUAL UV package. The first UV inhibitor is typically a tin based compound. It protects the finish itself. The second UV inhibitor protects the underlying wood. Those compounds are called HALS, for hindered amine something something.

Another way to minimize fading is to use a pigmented stain under your clearcoat. Many folks think that's a sin, but a lot of commercial furniture uses stain, and sometimes dye then stain, so the color will remain nearly constant over time. It all depends upon what your objectives are. I personally am not a fan of faded walnut so I typically dye the pieces I make with Transtint dark walnut dye and then clearcoat, and keep the pieces away from direct sunlight.

John

John, I have some WD Lockwood powdered walnut water based stain. If I use this diluted to my preference, seal it with dewaxed shellac, then a light oil coat of stain and Arm R seal, would this hold up on the coloring? thanks. Brian

[Brian Runau]

I can stain these end tables to hold the color, but I built a bedroom set out of walnut, did not stain it. It gets no direct sunlight and honestly very little indirect light, so maybe it won't turn blonde 'til after I'm dead! Break my heart to see it go blonde.

[Mel Fulks]

Is walnut still steamed ? That distributes the color into the sap wood that is best just used in the fire. I like air dried walnut. Some will only
buy kiln dried because of modern specs but that makes ugly wood.

[Prashun Patel]

We are very precious about our walnut aren't we

[Jim Becker]

Is walnut still steamed ? That distributes the color into the sap wood that is best just used in the fire. I like air dried walnut. Some will only
buy kiln dried because of modern specs but that makes ugly wood.

A lot of the walnut sold as commercial lumber is steamed for higher yields for sure, Mel. I don't prefer the "uniform, ruddy brown look", but it helps provide "more" wood that's "usable" from the same board. "In General". Personally, I prefer the beautiful variation of colors in air dried and/or non-steamed KD walnut...greens, purples, browns, golds, etc. It's just more interesting to me. But it might not be what someone making certain styles of furniture, etc, may want.

[roger wiegand]

Air dried walnut is one of those reasons to be a woodworker. All the colors of the rainbow glimmering across the surface, but ephemeral. In an hour it's gone. Only the woodworker in their shop gets to appreciate this transitory spectacle.

(talk about precious!)