Distressing Oak Furniture
To distress the finish and make the painted surface look more naturally weathered take the sander back to the surface of the furniture when the paint has dried.
Distressing oak furniture. The wire brushes are in angle grinders. For the bare wood look. Let it dry completely.
Thanks to the vision of john a. Wipe clean with a tack cloth to complete your painted distressed furniture. More expensive wood is usually free of knots and warping whereas cheap wood usually has more knots and other surface imperfections that will add to the effect of distressing.
With emphasis on the edges of the furniture use the sander to gently remove some of the paint and primer allowing the underlying wood to show through. I start with a stiff twisted wire cup brush then work my way to a cup that is not twisted and finish off with a soft cup brush. Once the piece is fully dry you can begin to remove some of the paint and distress the piece with steel wool and sandpaper.
This is pretty extreme distressing. Family owned and operated naturwood started as a tiny furniture store on stockton boulevard over 70 years ago. Distress wood furniture edges to create an even more antiqued look lightly sand the edges and corners of the table with fine grit sandpaper concentrating on edges and areas of natural wear to keep it authentic looking.
Click here for higher quality full size image. Rub candle wax on the areas where you d like to see color show through. For the color look.
This table is white oak that was wire brushed. If you painted two coats use the steel wool to go over the waxed areas. Next give the furniture a new coat of paint use coarse grit sandpaper or a sanding block to achieve an uneven weathered look and apply the top coat of paint.