How to Make Plywood Look Like Whitewashed Beach Wood

How to Make Plywood Look Like Whitewashed Beach Wood

Anchors around the wall, rough-sawn trim and varnished pine furniture might characterize your beach-front lair, and weathered, driftwoodlike cabinets might be just the touch you need to fill out the image. It takes years of exposure to sunlight and water to provide beach hardwood its washed-out, whitish appearance, however, and it isn’t the type of exposure that your plywood cabinets can endure without delaminating. You can mimic the appearance of beach hardwood by smoothing the wood, as a result of water exposure does, then distressing it to mimic the countless impacts beach hardwood endures, and eventually bleaching and whitewashing it.

Sand the plywood with an orbital sander and 100-grit paper till you’ve removed all vestiges of surface and finish color. Switch to 120-grit paper and mud again to remove all the scratches left from the coarser newspaper.

Bleach the wood with two-part peroxide wood bleach, that’s the best type of bleach for taking away the timber’s natural color. There are two ways to apply it. You can either brush on Part A of this item, which is sodium hydroxide, and then instantly brush part B — hydrogen peroxide — prior to the wood has dried. You can also mix the two parts together and brush them on immediately after mixing.

Let the wood dry and apply another bleach remedy if you would like to make the wood lighter. After the last treatment has dried, mix a solution of 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water and brush it onto the wood to neutralize the bleach. Let the wood dry completely.

Sand the wood once again, this time utilizing 150-grit sandpaper. Sand by hand, going along the grain, to eliminate scratches and smooth the surface to resemble weathering.

Distress the surface by hitting it with a string or gouging it with a flat-head screwdriver. Pull the screwdriver across the surface to simulate erosion or damage from insects. Drilling several tracks of 1/8-inch holes will also help to achieve this result.

Pour white wood tip into an empty paint can also narrow it by 50 percent with the proper thinner. Paint it on the wood and rub it off immediately with a rag, drawing on the rag over the grain; this farther whitens the wood. You might prefer to omit this step if the wood is already white enough.

Paint a coat of clear finish on the plywood to guard it; this is especially important when you utilized whitewash. Use water-based polyurethane or lacquer — it doesn’t turn yellow, unlike many oil-based finishes.

Sand the end lightly with 220-grit sandpaper after it dries, and apply another coat.

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