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This post is part of Plyco’s guide to Birch Plywood
It’s pretty easy to imagine some of the more basic questions that we get asked most often when it comes to Birch Plywood. Questions about prices, applications, and sizes are pretty straightforward and you wouldn’t have to be an expert to guess that they’d be common. However, would you believe us when we say that questions about whitewashing Birch Plywood are actually some of the most frequently asked? It seems like a slightly out of left field query, but in reality, it’s a very useful question. While it’s a relatively simple and straightforward process, asking this question means you’re doing your due diligence by putting in time and research. So, we thought we’d reward that by putting together a comprehensive guide on an extremely convenient way to whitewash your Birch Plywood!
Materials
You actually don’t need a whole lot of materials if you're planning on giving your Birch Plywood a whitewashed look. Obviously, you need your sheet of Birch, but outside of that, you’re not going to have to spend a whole lot of time running around finding the required tools. Outside of your Ply, you’re going to need white paint (make sure it’s non-glossy), a plastic cup filled with water, and a paintbrush. Depending on what kind of look you want, the type of brush used should vary. If you want a dry, streaky look a bristled brush is preferred, while a sponge brush will leave the coat more even.
Paint The Night
The first thing you’re going to want to do is dilute your paint with that cup of water you have. Sounds a little weird, right? We’re going to need you to trust us on this though because it works extremely well. Ideally, you want to mix it together so it becomes one-third paint and two-thirds water. This will make the paint quite translucent, which is perfect for getting that perfect whitewashed look.
Once you have your mixture together start applying those coats of paint, making sure to take small breaks in between each coat to let the paint dry. You then simply continue doing this until you reach the desired look for your Birch Plywood! The number of coats required depends on what look you’re going for, what Plywood you’re painting, and what ratio of paint to water you used.
Don’t be scared to play around with this to try and find your whitewashed sweet spot. Ideally, you want to get your sheet of Plywood as white as possible while still retaining the brilliant natural timber characteristics and the wood grain. Getting this balance right will have your project looking stunning, and will give you the certified title of Whitewashing Warrior.
And that’s it! It’s such a simple, yet effective, process, and if you happen to have some spare white paint lying around the house you could potentially end up spending no money for a beautiful whitewashed finish.
For those looking for something more advanced, we recommend checking out the tutorial over at Hunker. This process involves using a whitewash stain and there are a lot more potential pitfalls. If you’re a beginner woodworker and don’t have a lot of experience with whitewashing or paint in general, we suggest testing this method out on a smaller off-cut piece to prepare yourself and prevent the ruining of your gorgeous Birch Plywood panel.
Hopefully, the two different processes here have given you a good idea of what’s required for whitewashing, and a little bit of guidance. Whitewashed Birch Plywood has a nostalgic old-school feel to it that just can’t be matched by other painting, laminate or veneer methods.
If you’re looking to pick up a sheet or two and give this a shot yourself, you can always head over to our online store where you can browse our entire product range. If you’re looking to learn more about Birch Plywood we suggest checking out our blog posts on the top properties of Birch Plywood and the alternatives to Bunnings Birch Plywood.
