Cedar is a really beautiful wood. The wood grains of this particular wood makes furniture look extremely classy. At present time, cedarwood is being used in every house.
Now cedar woods are used in house sidings, fences, decks, gates, hot tubs, shingles, trim, etc.
Well, there are various reasons why this wood is used widely. First of all, it looks very beautiful, as mentioned before. Then it is a versatile wood, it could be used anywhere, from fences to outdoor furniture.
Cedarwood pretty easy to fabricate, compared to other woods. And the most major one is, it doesn’t cost much, comes at an affordable price. There is one more which is, cedar woods weather pretty good.
However, the beauty of anything wouldn’t remain forever then what is cedarwood? Cedarwood turns ugly gray which looks very bad. And once it turned gray, there isn’t any natural way to get back the color.
In that case what you have to do is, toning with a good toner that is suitable for cedarwood.
You really don’t need to face that phrase, if you start taking care of the wood from the beginning. Treat the wood daily and it wouldn’t turn gray.
And that is exactly what this very article is all about. Here you will learn how to keep cedar looking natural. In other words, you will get to know everything about cedarwood care.
How to Keep Cedar Looking Natural:
Step 1: Seal the Wood
Even if the cedar wood is new, I would still stain it after a while. Wood will turn gray or get damaged sooner or later but staining will make sure that the wood doesn’t get damaged anytime soon.
And staining or sealing a wood after it got damaged, doesn’t make much sense. So doing it at the earliest stage is wise.
What you would want to do is, pick a top-notch sealer for the wood. Not any sealer, pick one that is compatible with cedarwood. And is waterproof and UV-resistant.
If the sealer is mold and mildew-resistant, then that is great. This kind of sealer might cost a little more but in the end, you will be the one on the winning side.
When choosing the sealer, choose the tone according to your present wood color. There are different options actually.
When the wood is new, it naturally looks beautiful, in that case, you wouldn’t want to add any extra tone. So choose a clear stain or transparent stain, both are the same.
It will improve the wood grain color but wouldn’t add any tone from its own.
Step 2: Inspect Regularly
Like a lot of house items, cedarwood items also need regular inspection. By regular we don’t mean every day but make sure to inspect twice at least in a week.
What you have to look for is any spot that needs improvement. It could be board wrapped, or nails or screw popped.
If you see any screw or nails has popped then replace that immediately and then fill the nail or screw holes. Make sure to fill that holes so well that water cannot penetrate inside.
If water pools in these holes, soon the surrounding wood will start to rot. And that is the beginning of damage. Trust me, you don’t want that.
Then look for an area where water will get stuck. For example, if it is a table make sure the surface is good enough to draw water out of the table.
Some tables get a little down from the middle part which traps water. And such a situation will damage the wood extremely bad. If requires sand the wood but make sure there is no spot like that.
Step 3: Cedar Deck
This one is especially for cedar decks. Most of the time we put furniture on the deck and that is why those spots always stay under the shadow.
If you have already stained the wood then this isn’t something you should worry about. But if you didn’t what the scenario would be like, there will be some spots on the wood which are gray and some that have the natural tone.
Spots that remained under the shadow of the furniture will have the natural color, apart from those other spots will turn gray, and the credit will be going to UV-ray.
So what you would want to do is, either seal the entire deck with a top-notch sealer that will protect the wood from UV-ray. Otherwise, you will have to keep moving that furniture to keep a balanced tone on the entire deck.
One more thing you will have to keep in mind is when moving the furniture make sure you don’t drag them. That will scratch the wood.
Lift up the items slowly and put them slowly. It will be best if you attach to all the legs of the furniture.
Step 4: Sweep twice a week
This is something that most people don’t want to do. Sweep the cedar deck twice a week. There would be leaves, water, dust, you will have to get rid of all of them.
And you will have to try to keep the wood clean as much as possible. You can sweep the deck with a stiff bristle brush, and to get rid of the leaves you can use a leaf blower.
Apart from the deck, in the case of other cedar wood items whether it is furniture or anything else. You would want to clean the wood off with a damp cloth once a week. If the wood is stained, then you can use soapy water to clean that.
Final Words
I hope now you at least have a little idea about how to keep cedar looking natural. I will summarize for you again. Make sure to stain or seal the wood when it is at its good stage.
And ensure you use a high-quality sealer that will last for years at least. Inspect the cedar wood items regularly, see if there is any hole or nails popped, or any crack.
If you see any hole then immediately fill that. Keep the wood clean as much as possible.
