How To Distress Wood – Tutorial

How To Distress Wood - Tutorial

Make new wood look old with wood rasps, hammer, screws and nails. The following are my favorite techniques of how to distress wood. Create a faux driftwood look, rotten wood, dents, scratches and faux worm holes.

How To Distress Wood

Faux Driftwood Look

distress wood with wood rasp tutorial
Faux driftwood

Use a wood rasp to make ridges and grooves. Work with the grain of the wood.

Faux driftwood tutorial ridges grooves wood rasp
Ridges and grooves

distress wood screw

You can also use a screw instead of a wood rasp.

Dents

distress wood tutorial hit wood with hammer dents

Hit the wood with a hammer to make dents. You can also beat the edges of the board.

how to age new wood tutorial wood rasp hammer
After staining

-> How To Stain Wood Naturally With Vinegar & Steel Wool

Faux Worm Holes

Age wood tutorial faux worm holes hammer nail
Faux worm holes

To create faux worm holes, hammer a nail into the wood. Concentrate the worm holes in one spot for a natural look.

how to distress wood tutorial faux worm holes nails
Faux worm holes after staining

Rotten Wood

Distressing Wood - Tutorial

Using a screw scrape across the grain of the wood for a slightly rotten look.

More Dents & Nicks

DIY distress wood screw marks

Hammer a screw into the wood for an interesting look.

Distressing Wood With Screws And Nails

You can also hammer a nailhead into the wood.

Distress Wood With Wood Rasps

For another distinct effect, which I really liked after staining the wood, drag a round wood rasp across the grain of the wood.

Wood rasp and screw marks after staining

After distressing the wood, use sandpaper to make the wood smooth again. Then stain the wood with tea and homemade vinegar-steel wool-solution.

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How To Distress Wood - Tutorial

13 thoughts on “How To Distress Wood – Tutorial

  1. Pingback: Busy Monday 338
  2. This is great! I love that you share multiple different ways of distressing the wood (and clearly label them). I can’t wait to find some wood to try this out on. Thanks for sharing your tips with us at Merry Monday this week!

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