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Thread: Color treating wood to match Irish flag colors

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2019
    Location
    Lexington, KY
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    103

    Color treating wood to match Irish flag colors

    Hey friends. I'm making a pine wood version of the Irish flag for my Irish buddy's birthday (on March 17th no less!) and I'm needing advice on how to produce the white and orange (have the green figured out already). I know I've seen bleaching and other wood whitening threads before but I don't remember what the products used to color treat were. I'd prefer using something that isn't opaque like paint, but lets the wood grain shine through as much as possible. What kind of white and orange color treatment would produce this effect...is it a stain I'm imagining? I'll be happy with traditional wood coloring techniques but I'd really prefer organic coloring materials...say like using turmeric powder for the orange, which I'm about to test.

    Thanks ahead!

    irish flag.jpg
    If the end of the world ever comes move to Kentucky, because everything there happens 20 years later. ~ Mark Twain
    History began on July 4, 1776. Everything before that was a mistake. ~ Ron Swanson
    The economy of what you say lends more to it's meaning than the depth of it's exclamation.
    If you need a tool and don't get it, you paid for not having it and you still don't have it.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2021
    Location
    Mid West and North East USA
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    I have used artists oil paint to make bright color wood stain. It has to be mixed with a carrier / dryer. Equal parts artists oil paint, boiled linseed oil, MinWax natural wood-stain + a little Japan drier makes strong bright colors. Have decided to try speedball red for an upcoming project. I also have some dyed veneers picked out for a back up plan.

    https://www.woodcraft.com/products/s...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

    Screen Shot 2024-03-09 at 11.59.26 AM.jpg
    Screen Shot 2024-03-09 at 12.47.06 PM.jpg Screen Shot 2024-03-09 at 12.48.10 PM.jpg
    https://goldenartistcolors.com/produ...ors/oil-colors
    Last edited by Maurice Mcmurry; 03-09-2024 at 1:55 PM. Reason: images, links
    Best Regards, Maurice

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    NE Iowa
    Posts
    1,245
    It'll be tought to get a bright white like that without using and opaque colorant. If you go with bleaching, oxalic acid is a mild bleach - it'll remove some color, but short of getting the wood white. Two part bleaches (which use sodium hydroxide - lye - and hydrogen peroxide) will get the wood much whiter, but they are very caustic chemicals and require care when you're working with them.

    You might have better success with a transparent oil stain, which will definitely let the wood texture show through, but get some real white and orange on the wood.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
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    10,007
    The way my wife dyes pasta for kids art projects is food coloring and a little rubbing alcohol. Toss in a baggie and air dry.
    Bill D

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    9,750
    You'll never get white/white without repeated two-part bleaching. Several times. If you need white/white, I'd be looking at opaque stains.

    John

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