How To Clean Decorative Branches

This post volition teach you how to care for tree branches for indoor utilise. Acquire how to clean and remove bark from branches, as well as how to finish branches for decor and crafts to ensure they await wonderful and last.

How to Care for Tree Branches for Indoor Apply

I'thousand back from vacation 🙁 Merely I am actually excited to get dorsum to my projects list. Consider this post an appetizer for a post I have coming upwards later this week on how to make a true cat tree out of a existent tree!

I was starting to put together the cat tree post when I realized that it was going to bereally long. So I decided to break out the part about how to treat tree branches for indoor use, specifically how to clean, strip, and cease the branches, and make information technology its ain post.

As well, stripping and finishing branches is something that I remember a lot of people might exist interested in. Not merely those of you who desire to build a real kitty tree.

Using tree parts for home decor is beautiful, toll effective, and not too hard. Check out my post near my DIY tree stump side tabular array and this post on a lovely stained stump with wheels!

I also admittedly love these tree branch drawer pulls by Kelly over at Blueprint Asylum. The possibilities are endless, and if you're lucky, you can get the materials you need to create these awesome projects for gratuitous.

When I started researching how to treat tree branches for indoor use, I was overwhelmed with the many dissimilar approaches. I had just pulled some branches from off the ground in the woods.

We weren't even sure what kind of tree they were from, although we had some guesses. We likewise weren't sure how long nosotros had to let them sit out because we didn't know how long it'd been since they'd fallen off the tree and what kind of weather condition they'd been in since so.

So consider the steps I followed below to be but 1 arroyo. I'll provide some additional tidbits on other approaches I read about just didn't employ along the way. 🙂

Hither'S WHAT I USED:

• Branches and a dry infinite
• A paint scraper—similar this one here.
• Small mitt-held saw—run across one here—and a miter saw (not completely necessary, but we needed to trim some thick branches down).
• Assorted sandpaper—I used 100 and 150 grit depending on the spot.
• Minwax Stain in Natural and Rust-Oleum Ultimate Polyurethane in Satin.

Here are the steps to make clean branches for ornamentation.

(Remember to wear a mask and eye protection while sanding and working with wood, and wear an advisable mask while working with paints, stains, and finishes. Follow the directions and warnings from your detail brand. Do not employ any tools without proper preparation, precautions, and supervision from a professional. Read my full terms of use here.)

Step 1: Find a suitable branch

We foraged the woods behind my parents' house and found ii groovy branches that were already on the ground. I'd read that you lot had to let the branches dry out for a while—upwardly of a year, even. So I thought it would be best to find something that had already been drying out on the footing.

We also didn't want to hack upwards any copse that were still growing when there are plenty of fallen sticks and branches to choose from. Not knowing how long it had been detached from the tree was a risk nosotros were willing to take. 🙂

After cutting the branches, we brought them into my dad's workshop, which has baseboard heating, to dry out for two more months. We guessed the pieces nosotros had were pretty dry since they did have some cracking, merely nosotros wanted to be certain. If we'd thought they were newer branches, we would accept let them dry for longer.

Stride two: Remove bark from branches

Subsequently about 2 months, I started scraping the bark off. This is a very important pace that a lot of people skip when bringing tree parts indoors. Yous need to scrap the bawl off considering in that location could exist bugs living under it!

In fact, I found guide a few little guys while I was scraping. Bugs take a purpose, but I don't want them living in my home 🙂 The bark will eventually autumn off anyway, so it'southward best to have it off at the beginning of your project.

There are lots of ways to de-bark trees. The ease with which yous can remove bark depends on many factors, including what type of tree it is, how dry out the wood is, and even what time of year it is. And then it's difficult to provide an estimate.

Unfortunately for me, my bawl was not easy to remove—and it looks like that's the case for many people if my Googling is whatever indication. But don't worry, the results are totally worth the time and frustration!

While I read that a lot of people utilize a draw knife and even a pressure washer to remove bark, I used a paint scraper. Information technology was my dad's thought, and information technology worked really well! It only took time and elbow grease, and it was extremely messy.

Step 3: Sand and polish the branches

After I'd scraped all of the bark off, I cried of happiness that the miserable process was over and grabbed some sandpaper. I used 100-grit sandpaper on some of the rougher spots.

So I gave the entire piece a good, thorough sand with 150-grit sandpaper. I was truly amazed at how well sanding polished the piece. I did all sanding past hand since the co-operative was a scrap curvy and bumpy—only seemed easier.

Step four: Stain the branches

After cleaning off my work space and wiping downwardly the branch with a dry out paper towel, I used a chip brush to apply a generous coat of stain. Minwax Stain in Natural really helped to bring out the woods's character.

I didn't even wipe off the excess stain—I just left information technology to soak into the wood for about 24 hours. Like I said, my pieces were pretty dry, so the stain soaked right in. (I besides have a whole postal service about how to stain and terminate forest if you're new to the process!)

Footstep 5: Finish to protect

At this betoken I was airheaded with excitement about how practiced the branches looked. I finished them off with two coats of Rust-Oleum Ultimate Polyurethane in Satin considering I wanted to bring in a chip of sheen while providing further protection for the branches.

This is a water-based polyurethane that dries much faster than an oil-based i. I also actually love Varathane water-based polyurethane in matte. I used it on my daughter'southward dollhouse bookshelf, our cat business firm side table build, and our DIY plywood planter considering I didn't want much shine on whatsoever of these pieces. Yous can see it's a beautiful, understated finish.

Left: Stain dried; Right Height: First coat of poly on; Correct Lesser: Drying poly

And here are my treated branches finished…

You can see that the pieces have just the right corporeality of sheen for what I wanted. I wanted them to look polished simply not super shiny and fake, and I call back the water-based poly in satin really achieved that wait.

They practice look a but shinier in person—this was hard to capture in photos. If you want them to look like these pictures, I'd err on the side of caution and get with a matte water-based formula. You tin can e'er add a layer of satin on top of the matte if you lot don't love it.

You can see the cat tree made out of a existent tree build that these branches were finished for too! And I besides did a mail service almost how the tree held up years later on considering I get a lot of questions about it. This is probably my favorite projection of all time.

Also, while making the cat tree, nosotros have to level off the branches. After all this work staining and finishing the branches, I couldn't bear throwing out scraps we had to cut off. So I fabricated a tiny simulated delicious planter out of one of the branch pieces. Information technology's a cute and easy DIY!

Pin my tips about how to treat branches for indoor ornamentation and crafts!

Instructions

1. Notice a suitable branch. Ones that are already laying on the ground are best because they take already started to dry out out. Annotation that is all-time to let them continue drying out for at to the lowest degree two months if you lot are wanting to use them indoors.
2. Remove all the bark from the co-operative using a paint scraper.
3. Sand the branch to remove whatsoever rough spots using 100 grit sandpaper. And then, using 150 dust sandpaper, sand the entire co-operative.
4. Wipe down the entire branch with a dry newspaper towel to remove all the dust and droppings.
5. Use a chip brush to apply a generous coat of stain. No demand to wipe off the excess stain, exit it to soak into the wood for 24 hours.
6. Finish the co-operative with 2 coats of polyurethane in satin to protect information technology and you're done!

Source: https://www.bybrittanygoldwyn.com/how-to-strip-and-finish-branches-for-decor/

Posted by: walkeraboul1995.blogspot.com

Share this post