Expert: Eileen Cronk - 2/21/2009

Question
Hello Eileen
I am in the process of restoring an aromatic cedar armoire. It is solid wood, Aromatic Cedar inside and out. Some pieces had to be remanufactured from new wood. I ran across a posting you did 8-2-2006 and have some further questions.
After following your procedure I want to finish it with Polyurethane. Do I need to rinse of the residual lye? Have you ever had a chemical reaction with the finish and the residual Lye?


Answer
Hi John
Nice to hear from you
I have never had a reaction with the finish but its likely because I always stain wood before applying any finish.
In my opinion staining is a must even if you want no color.
If you want no color you apply a natural stain. "Minwax Natural" stain is the one I use.
John I went back and read the post you mention. I stated I had never used this process on cedar and to this date I still haven't.
Over the last couple of years I have been exploring different ways to age wood that you may be interested in.
Take a quart jar full of white vinegar (the kind we put on our french fries).
To this add one whole steel wool pad. Let this sit for 24 hours.
Brush or dip your wood in it.
This was pretty interesting stuff. I found after 24 hours there was not much color in the vinegar but it turned the wood a light grey.
I let the brew sit for another 24 hours and it really got dark. This made the wood much darker. So some experimenting is in order.
But as with both mixtures I have not tried it on cedar so tests are vital. Cedar is a funny wood because of the oils in it so who knows.
I have also changed from using powdered lye to liquid drain cleaner (Liquid Plummer) but I always go back to the powdered lye when I want to age cherry although in theory there should not be much difference.
John it sounds like you have gone to a lot of work to restore this chest and if you have any fears that the finish may be degraded by all means neutralize the wood after the aging process.
Very best of luck
Eileen