# Will UV darken cedar much ?



## Tenfingers58 (Jan 25, 2011)

I have some aromatic cedar that my wife wants a dresser top jewlery box made of. It has a nice ratio of dark and light areas, but the wife wants the red "redder" and the cream part to stay the same.

I'm hoping if I put the boards in the sun for a couple/few days it will darken the red enough and leave the "cream" alone.

Once the box is built I can cover it with a UV resistant finish to help lock in the color and tell my wife not to keep it in direct sunlight.

Will this work? I'd stain it but she wants the "cream" part untouched


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## davidmicraig (Nov 21, 2009)

I have not worked with aromatic cedar much, so did some searching online. It would appear that the color actually fades under sunlight and you would do better to apply UV protection to maintain the current color for as long as possible. If the color is already fading a little planing can bring it back before finishing.

Unfortunately, nature doesn't always come with custom colors


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

It will turn gray in in sun light. I use a water based polyurethane for finish and it will turn much darker. Cedar + sunlight is not a good combination.


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

Take a scrap piece and put on Minwax Natural stain. It will turn the reds a deep, wonderful red, while basically leaving the white alone.


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

Question, won't a finish cover the aromatic properties?

I don't know how different aromatic is from the fence cedar but the beautiful reddish color turns to a less than beautiful dark gray! Water, from my lawn sprinklers, hasten this process.


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## Tenfingers58 (Jan 25, 2011)

Thank you all for the information.
My wife picked out the wood for "her" box that she dosen't like the color of. I'm just the woodbutcher here.
I will try the Minwax natural stain with a spray can poly for finish.
The inside of the box will stay unfinished, so she can open it for the "aromatic qualities". I personally don't really like the smell but I like being married. She's a good wife, it's just hard to understand her choices sometimes.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

In general light woods darken and dark woods lighten when exposed to sun light.


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

UV typically washes color out to grey, not turn it dark. If it's indoors, it shouldn't be a problem as long as the moisture is not too high. Building outdoor things from aromatic cedar is a waste of good wood.


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