How Do I Whitewash Varnished Knotty Pine: 4 Easy Methods To Whitewash

4 Easy Methods To Whitewash Knotty Pine

Whitewash can protect your boards and wooden furniture from insects. Today's whitewashing materials are less caustic and give you an old-fashioned character within a short period of time. If you want to whitewash your varnished knotty pine wood then you need to follow the given methods carefully. Here are the methods with steps to finish this work:

Method 1: Preparing The Wood

The whitewashing process works especially well on the open-grained woods like the knotty pine wood because it can actually soak into the wood instead of sitting on the surface like the way lacquer or paint does. Knotty pine wood which has been sealed or painted with a top coat will need to be stripped in order to reopen the grain of the pine wood.

Firstly you need to strip off the paint or the stain by brushing on a stripper(chemical) and then let it sit according to the directions of the manufacturer.
Once you bubbled up the old paint or stain now scrape it off with the help of a putty knife, be careful try not to gouge the softened wood. Prepare the unfinished wood or lightly stained wood by sanding it with sandpaper(100-grit) and then brush away all sanding dust that comes after the sanding process before continuing.
Now you need to stain your sanded wood with the help of a brown stain or a gray stain to give it a more aged look, but never use a self-sealing stain on it.
Now let the stain dry wholly, and then lightly sand the wood and wipe down the wood again before doing the whitewashing process.

Method 2: Mixing The Whitewash

Commercial whitewashes are easy to use and offer reliable results.

You need to mix your own whitewash by using flat latex paint. This will allow you to play with the selected color by choosing either pure white paint, a warmer cream or even adding a bit of green, blue, pink or whatever color which you like to get the exact look you want.
Simply mix 2 parts of paint with 1 part of pure water and after this, you're now ready to go.

Method 3: Whitewashing The Wood

Whitewashing is closer in technique to staining than to painting.

First you need to use a clean paintbrush in order to apply the whitewash to your knotty pine wood, always work
in long and even strokes with the grain of your knotty pine wood.
Now, you have to dab your whitewash into the open knots of your pinewood to get full coverage on it, that's why a paintbrush is better for this type of knotty pine wood than a paint roller.
When you finish the previous step now let your whitewash sink in for a few seconds and then wipe any extra whitewash away with a clean & dry shop cloth. Paper towels will also be useful for this type of work, but you need to know that a soft & clean shop cloth is easier to control because they won't tear and also won't shed fibers.
You have to keep applying your whitewash, let soak it in and wiping off any extra whitewash until your knotty pine wood is fully coated. Apply a 2nd coat to achieve the depth of the color which you desire.

Method 4: Finishing The Wood

If you want to seal your whitewashed knotty pine wood that depends on how the pinewood will be used. Wainscoting and walls can be allowed to age naturally, while floors, tables, dressers, and chairs should be sealed with help of a clear protective coat. These protective coats come in many types of forms but a brush-on coat of polyurethane sealer or acrylic will protect the whitewashed knotty pine wood from staining and fading.

You need to use one to two coats of your selected sealer on furniture which will be gently used.
This is your final step to follow, let the sealer dry completely for few hours and then sand it with sandpaper(100-grit) and wiping off the dust betwixt each coat.