Using tea to stain wood naturally is one of my favorite ways to darken it and make it look weathered. As an avid tea drinker, I find it fun to use tea in other ways than just as a beverage – and well it costs next to nothing. By harnessing the tannins of tea and using the vinegar iron solution you get the amazing natural reaction in wood to create dark colors. It is a natural and inexpensive way to darken the wood for your next DIY project!

A plain untreated wooden wine box and the same wood box that is naturally stained dark-colored using tea, vinegar, and iron.

When you use natural materials, it is intriguing that each time the result is slightly different depending on the wood you have on hand. I have utilized this technique several times to darken the wood in my wine crate DIY projects. For the latest project, I applied tea staining with vinegar to make a weathered look on my wooden backdrop for photo shooting for this blog.

Doesn’t weathered wood look beautiful?

Bouquet of herbs against the weathered wooden surface.

Weathered wood stained with tea, vinegar, and iron underneath the Finnish blueberry pie photo setting.

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Why use the tea staining and not store-bought stain and paint and why not?

When painting wood, the paint is a layer on the surface of the wood. When the surface for example a chair is used regularly and gets dents you will see the color of the wood underneath.

Weathering the wood with this natural method using tannins of tea, the iron solution, and the oxidizing process, allows the grain of the wood to show through. With ebonizing naturally, the wood itself turns black, so, with any small dents or damages, the wood remains still black.

Wood as a natural material gives endless shades and possibilities which makes this process so intriguing. You never know the ending result for sure. This is also the disadvantage if you want an exact shade, this method is not for you.

Example of wine crates one unstained and one stained with tea and vinegar solution.

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So why does the tea staining with iron work?

This natural darkening method relies on the tannic acid that tea leaves have released into the water and the iron acetate released into vinegar creating an iron-rich solution. This way of tea staining boosted with iron staining creates deep, darker colors or even black to tannin-rich wooden surfaces using the chemical reaction between iron oxide and tannic acid.

Things that affect the final result

When using natural materials you cannot 100% control the result like with a store-bought stain or paint. For best results, I suggest you try this out on a piece of wood as a test piece or try it out in an inconspicuous area first to get an idea of the final shade. Here are things that can affect your tea staining project.

The type of wood you are using
Duration of steeping the steel in vinegar
Duration of steeping the tea
The amount of tea
The type of tea you are using
The number of layers of tea you apply

So how can we influence the outcome? Here are two ends of the shades you can try out. These are the tricks that I have been using in DIY projects when I aim for certain results.

When you want darker shades – ebonizing the wood

Use wood that has high levels of tannic acid like oak, chestnut, cedar, and some mahoganies.
Let the steel be immersed in the vinegar for longer than 24 hours.
Make darker tea (and make sure you use black tea for more tannin). Leave the tea to steep longer or even add more tea leaves or tea bags.
Apply two to three layers of tea on the wood before applying the vinegar iron solution.

Tea and vinegar stained wooden plan that has turned into almost black.

Lighter shades of grey to the wood

Avoid high tannin wood like oak, chestnut, cedar, and some mahoganies.
Shorten the steeping time of the tea.
Use green tea for lesser tannins.
Use less tea than informed in this tutorial.
Dilute the tea with water if the tea solution seems dark.
Leave out the tea completely and use only the vinegar mixture. All wood contains some levels of tannins so it might be enough.

Where to use this vinegar and tea staining technique?

You can apply this wood staining technique to any untreated wooden surface and any type of furniture. I have used it for bookshelves, a wine crate ottoman, and many other wine box projects.

A woman with the legs on the Coffee table ottoman.

Materials you need for DIY wood staining

Here is the run through the materials, suggestions and tips for this project.

Untreated wooden surface

Any untreated wooden surface will do. As we noticed above, the result depends on what kind of wood you are using.

Notice too, that if you have labels on the wooden wine boxes, and you decide to detach the label it leaves the glue on the wine box surface. When you apply tea solution and vinegar iron solution on the top they will not absorb them like the rest of the surface and it might look like this. You see the square mark on the label and then the place where the glue has remained.

Before and after photos of a wine box with paper label glued in, the after photo with erased label that has left glue and the tea and vinegar staining has not absorbed on that area.

So if you do decide to detach the label you should treat the wood with sandpaper to take off the glue. Remember to sand evenly the whole wine box (not just underneath the label) so that there is no visible difference in the texture and the grains of wood when you stain it.

Ingredients for tea solution

Tea bags, or loose-leaf tea

Use black tea if you aim for really dark shades, for it has the highest tannin concentration in all types of tea. Otherwise, any kind of tea works fine, but, herbal tea drinkers, sorry to say, herbal teas won’t work in this project, for they are not made with Camellia Sinensis, the true tea leaves but any other plants.

Tea leaves contain catechin that will be released into the water in the form of tannins because of the water temperature in steeping the tea. This tea treatment increases the tannins in the wood material and boosts the darkening process.

Water

Use boiling water to release as much tannins into the tea solution as possible.

Ingredients for vinegar iron solution

Ingredients for iron staining: some wire and vinegar with a glass jar.

Steel wool or wire

Many use steel wool to make this solution, but I have successfully used the leftover wire from my DIY wreath projects (LINK), or bent steel nails or rusty nails that I would otherwise toss. If you are using steel wool you might need to strain the steel wool solution with a fine mesh cloth to catch any small particles.

Vinegar

Use plain white vinegar. Yes, some use apple cider vinegar too. Plain vinegar is much more cost-effective for this project and will not give an extra cent later to the wood, so save the apple cider vinegar for boosting your health rather than wood crafts.

Tools you may need for this DIY wood staining project

Glass jars, one for each solution. Make sure that they are airtight.
Brush, that fits your project: Large for larger surfaces, small if you have engravings or such that would benefit from a smaller brush
Drop cloth or other cover

Beware that drops of vinegar iron solution will stain wooden tables and floors if you are not careful. It will also burn the varnish off. I mean it.

Here is how it burned off the varnish from our kitchen table:

The side of the kitchen table with varnish burned off due to an iron staining solution spill.

It is not an immediate destruction, but if you don’t wipe it off soonish, well… You have been warned.

How to stain wood naturally using tea, vinegar, and iron

With the next steps, I guide you through making two solutions to apply on your chosen wooden surface to make it look dark and weathered to create your own homemade wood stain.

Step one: Make the iron solution of vinegar and steel

Pour vinegar into the glass jar and immerse the wire or steel wool into it. Close the jar airtightly, leave the steel swimming, and make its magic for about 24 hours.

Step two: Steep the strong tea

The next day, we make now everything on the contrary when preparing a perfect cup of tea to drink! We want to release all the tannins into the water, so we want to make a really bad and bitter cup of tea so to speak.

Boil the water and pour the hot water into a heatproof mason jar or similar. You can use a tea cup as well if you are using it on the same day. Leave it steep for at least 10 minutes. To be honest, I have sometimes left it for hours when I just forgot it and it gave a nice deep black color to the wine box that I was aging a wine crate for my DIY ottoman project. It was an easy way to ebonize the wood naturally and it turned out great.

Staining a wooden wine box with the tea and vinegar staining.

Step three: Set up the painting area and apply tea solution

Then cover the working surface to not stain everything. Discard the tea bags or strain the tea if you use loose leaves) and discard the wire or steel wool. Specially if you use steel wool strain the vinegar steel solution with a fine mesh cloth to catch any bits or crumbs. It will anyhow look very dim and like yucky drain water, so do not fret!

Infused iron solution with wire and vinegar ready to be strained.

Pour the tea solution and vinegar steel solution into bowls if you are using a big brush to make it easier for you. Remember to use a ceramic bowl or similar so as not to color the bowls.

Brush first a layer of dark tea solution on the wood surface. Make it an even layer and let it dry. If you want to make it super dark you can make a second layer. The color will not yet have any drastic changes.

A woman dipping a big brush into tea staining solution on the set table with wooden plank.

A woman brushing with tea staining solution the wooden plank.

Step four: Apply vinegar iron solution

When the tea layer is dry brush a coat of the vinegar mixture on top of it. You can see the color change of the wood and how it darkens in front of your eyes like magic! So cool right? Make sure you have covered all the surfaces and there is no spot left untreated. Let dry completely.

A woman dipping the brush into the vinegar iron solution.

A woman brushing the wooden plank with the vinegar steel solution for iron staining and the color of the wood has turned dark where she has brushed.

Have you tried darkening the wood naturally yet?

Let me know in the comments how your DIY project turned out! You can also tag me on Instagram with @blue.tea.tile, I would love to know more!

Tutorial card below!

A woman brushing the wooden wine box with vinegar solution to darken it naturally.

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Staining wood naturally with tea, vinegar & iron

Using tea to stain wood naturally is one of my favorite ways to darken it and make it look weathered. As an avid tea drinker, I find it fun to use tea in other ways than just as a beverage.
By harnessing the tannins of tea and using the vinegar steel solution you get the amazing natural reaction in wood to create its colors. It is a natural and inexpensive way to darken the wood for your DIY project.

Materials

Tea solution

4 bags black tea / 4 tsp loose leaf tea
200ml boiling water

Untreated wooden surface

Vinegar iron solution

Wire / Steel wool / nails
200 ml vinegar

Tools

Glass jars, one for each solution.
Brush
Drop cloth or other cover

Instructions

With the next steps, I guide you through making two solutions to apply on your chosen wooden surface to make it look dark and weathered to create your own homemade wood stain.

Step one: Make the iron solution of vinegar and steel
Pour vinegar into the glass jar and immerse the wire or steel wool into it. Close the jar airtightly, leave the steel swimming, and make its magic for about 24 hours.
Step two: Make the strong tea
Boil the water and pour the hot water into a heatproof mason jar or similar. You can use a tea cup as well if you are using it on the same day. Leave it steep for at least 10 minutes.
Step three: Set up the painting area and apply tea solution
Then cover the working surface to not stain everything. Discard the tea bags or strain the tea if you use loose leaves) and discard the wire or steel wool.

Pour the tea solution and vinegar steel solution into bowls if you are using a big brush to make it easier for you.
 Brush first a layer of dark tea solution on the wood surface. Make it an even layer and let it dry. If you want to make it super dark you can make a second layer.
Step four: Apply vinegar iron solution
When the tea layer is dry brush a coat of the vinegar mixture on top of it. You can see the color change of the wood and how it darkens in front of your eyes like magic! So cool right? Make sure you have covered all the surfaces and there is no spot left untreated. Let dry completely.

Notes

See the notes on the materials used and what you should consider before applying Under the header: Materials you need for staining wood with tea, vinegar, and steel.
To know more about what effects the shades read the tips under the What things affect the final result header on this post.