How to Hydrate Old Wood

This last weekend was Gold Rush Day’s in small town Oronoco, Minnesota. It is one of the biggest flea market’s in Minnesota and is only about an hour’s drive from us. Vendors pretty much take over the town and fill their booths with everything from junk to high-end antiques. So needless to say, Vicki and I frequent this flea market every year!

We went in with a list of items we wanted to find for our store, as well as for ourselves. And wow, going through and looking at all of the items, a flea market can get overwhelming! But we did our best, and came out with a bunch of great finds!

So I wanted to share just one of our finds from that day (for now) and how I made it over – in about 5 minutes!

Kitchen Bestsellers

I’m not 100% sure what this little piece is, but I really liked it! It looks like some kind of little stool to me, but I loved it when I saw it. Lately I have been drawn to old wood pieces. I bought a many-drawered cabinet last spring. And my kitchen decor is a mixture of white, wood, greenery and Ironstone – so I knew this would be perfect in that room.

It was faded and pretty scarred. While I don’t mind the scarred appearance of old wood (in fact, sometimes I prefer it!) however the faded part I knew I could fix in order to enliven this little stool.

So I grabbed Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint’s product called “Hemp Oil”. It is probably one of the best items in the line, yet I feel like not very many people know about it. But just look at how adding a little bit of this all natural oil to the wood really hydrated and enriched the wood!

I literally just rubbed the oil into the wood with my hands. (See the video below – and don’t mind the music in the background, my daughter’s favorite movie is “Sing” !)

Once it soaked in, I used a lint-free cloth to wipe off any excess oil on the surface. And….that’s all there is to it! Super easy, quick and just one product needed.

But hydrating wood isn’t the only super power of this little oil. You can use it on old metal, cast iron, real leather (like your boots!) as well as over the milk paint as a sealer. We have tried it over the paint and over dry wood so far, but I can’t wait to try it all over my home – especially since it is all natural and food safe. My cabinet will be getting oiled, an old crate that I have, an old cutting board – and that’s just what I can think of off the top of my head at the moment!