Found lush driftwood today... now help!

[fruitiloopi]

I've just been scoring the beach and found quite a few large pieces of beautiful driftwood:D...

Firstly do I need to use any sort of treatment to get rid of any wee beasties, or should everything be dead as they've been floating about in the sea? Some bits are lovely and cream drift-washed, and others still have the bark on (don't know if that makes a difference;)). Anything else I should know if I'm fetching them indoors?

Also,
Any ideas or good websites where I can look for what to do with them, other than using them by themselves as an ornament (which was my original intention). They are quite big/sculptural... I have bruises to prove it, ouch!:mummy:

Thanks x

[SterlingWeave]

Sell me a piece to photograph jewellery on !!!

[fruitiloopi]

Sell me a piece to photograph jewellery on !!!

Great minds think alike;). I'd already thought of using them to display my jewellery on (for photos), unfortunately they're slightly too big/heavy to take to craft fairs.

Sorry but I'm not parting with them (also the postage costs would be a small fortune). We never seem to get nice drift wood on the beaches next to us, just burnt wood and seaweed - why is their so much burnt wood on our beaches? But the recent bad weather has washed up some beautiful pieces... if only I had a chain saw!

x

[TePe]

I would give the timber a good wash in fresh water, some times it can smell a bit when it dries out in the heat of indoors. Or just leave it 'out back' in the rain for a while. When using as a decorative piece on its own I have given it a good scrub with a stiff brush and soap and water. Just helps to dislodge any weed or muck on it.

[fruitiloopi]

I would give the timber a good wash in fresh water, some times it can smell a bit when it dries out in the heat of indoors. Or just leave it 'out back' in the rain for a while. When using as a decorative piece on its own I have given it a good scrub with a stiff brush and soap and water. Just helps to dislodge any weed or muck on it.


Thanks Tam, I think I'll give it a scrub, I'd love to have them in the house for christmas... I havent got the patience to leave it outdoors, they're too nice :Dx

[bodrighy]

As Tam said, give it a soak in fresh water which at the moment entails leaving it out in the rain. If you Google "driftwood art" there are a load of sites with everything from sculpture to furniture using driftwood so plenty of ideas. If brushing it, use a soft wire brush or a stiff ordinary one and expect some pieces to come off. I have gone over smaller pieces with a shoe brush before and the brown polish highlights to different levels in the wood.

Hope this helps

Pete

[fruitiloopi]

As Tam said, give it a soak in fresh water which at the moment entails leaving it out in the rain. If you Google "driftwood art" there are a load of sites with everything from sculpture to furniture using driftwood so plenty of ideas. If brushing it, use a soft wire brush or a stiff ordinary one and expect some pieces to come off. I have gone over smaller pieces with a shoe brush before and the brown polish highlights to different levels in the wood.

Hope this helps

Pete

I fancy a more natural look, but I'm really intrigued by 'brown polish highlights'??? Sorry to sound dim:confused:, but what type of polish, and by 'highlights' do you mean you only put it on parts of the wood?

Thanks x

[bodrighy]

Hi,
the natural look of driftwood coes about through it's continual softening and battering by the sea. This usually resuts in a soft, round edged texture as opposed to the sharpness of other broken wood. It will have natural high and low points and if you brush across this with a brush with the polish on the high points get darkened making them stand out. A large part of the attraction of driftwood is it's tactile aspect as with most wood and you don't want to lose this. Personally I would not polish the whole thiong but that is my prefernce, try all sorts of different techniques on smaller pieces first. Wire brushing gets rid of any loose wood as well as any sand etc that is trapped. Better than on someone's carpet if it is going indoors

pete

[Gemski]

Hi,

My partner goes to the beach a lot and picks up bags of driftwood he's started making picture frames and mirrors with them, they look fantastic as they are I don't think you need to do anything to them other than get rid of the smell first .
:)