Washy, Washy

The reason for the washy washy is that is what we tell our dog Chloe when it's time for a bath, she always tilts her head and gets really nervous. She hates the bath.

After reading and reading about the process of how to clean and care for the natural finish of the wood, I am still somewhat confused. I guess I look at this wood so much that I have really become infatuated or obsessed with the color and grain of this wood. I think it's beautiful. I type this as I sit in my living room in front of my fake fireplace (gas logs) and plastic floors (fake floors, aka laminate). I like the gas log technology but miss the look, sound and smell of an open fire. As for laminate flooring, the stuff looks great and will resist scratching under our dog playing with here bones and Frisbee and the two cats as they propel themselves forward or upward but I have learned to hate the stuff, It's just not natural. I digress, back to the wood. I have even counted the rings on the 8x8's and was a bit sad to find out if I have counted the rings correctly that these trees are over 100 years old. The next thing you know I will be trying to name them and include them in my will.  

This brings me to how to preserve the look because it appears they will darken over time and if left unprotected they will grey, which some people like. When they arrive at my home in the back of my pickup, the beams have a little dirt and some marks from the process of cutting and hauling whether they be from the saw or heister. The black marks as seen in the picture below are very difficult to remove. I have resorted to Kaboom, and pouring on some tide with bleach concentrate and scrub. Then I spray the whole beam with a mixture of bleach and water to brighten up the wood by removing any dirt and mildew. Then rinse thoroughly. The jury is still out as to whether there is any long term damage to the wood or fibers by doing this. After they dry I intend to put on a coat of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. Hopefully this will keep the mildew down and bring out the natural colors of the wood grain. It is also supposed to keep the beams from losing moisture from the sides too quickly and causing splitting and checking.