You'll find thousands and thousands of tutorials and products to help you finish, protect and maintain wood food surfaces on the web, may it be cutting boards, butcher blocks or other surfaces where food is cut. The information and advice given varies so much from one site to another that it’s difficult to figure out which advice to follow! While some swear by mineral oil, specialty products (which are often quite expensive) or mixtures made from waxes and oils, Ardec recommends two rather simple, yet environmentally friendly solution, that offer an impressive protection and deserve to be better known...

In recent years, furniture restoration has become more and more popular. It is an environmentally friendly trend which can also save you a lot of money. It's a way to personalize your interior décor with your unique, self-branded furniture.

In modern homes and condos as well as in ancestral homes, it is difficult to compete with the richness and aesthetics that a wooden floor provides. Whether your floor is hardwood, engineered wood or parquet, the type of finish chosen, whether oil or varnish, will have long-term impacts, including on the shine (mat, satin), the warmth and the enhancement of the depth of the wood grain.

We already discussed this sad reality in a previous post: Reclaimed Barn Wood is extremely popular these days, and getting your hands on a sufficient quantity for a project can be rather expensive due to strong demand. Although the unique patina of wood that has been ageing outside while being exposed to the elements is quite difficult to perfectly reproduce, there are a few relatively simple methods that can allow you to artificially weather new wood. Here's how to do it.

Summer rhymes with cocooning and time spent with loved ones outside, on the deck with a few steaks on the grill, a couple cold ones, some music, and perhaps a few dips in the pool... In order to enjoy your time outside as much as possible, we have prepared a simple, yet useful guide on ways to restore your wood deck, gazebo, balcony, siding or any other exterior surface. We'll begin with surface cleaning and preparation, and we'll follow with finishing. If you have a new, bare wood structure, you can go straight to the section on finishing.

We would like to inform you that our company, known for 12 years under the name Artdec.ca now proudly bears a new name: Ardec finishing products.

Worn floors, recovered painted paneling, barn wood or pallets have become increasingly sought-after materials by artisans and craftsmen. Why?

Historically associated with very rustic cottage designs, furniture made from timber logs or wood slabs has recently made a strong comeback and can be used in almost any kind of environment.

Have you ever seen a flax field? Hard to believe that from these long stems with delicate blue flowers at their ends, derive a wide variety of products such as a golden oil and a very durable fiber which has been used as textile for millennia! Linseed oil, also known as Flaxseed oil, was first used for nutrition. It is much later in its history that several other uses were discovered for it.

We've already covered the restoration and finishing of exterior wood surfaces such as patios, terraces and porches in a [previous article][1]. After showing you how to give your exterior wood a fresh new look and briefly introducing a few exterior finishing products, it's now time to show you how to actually apply them.

As wood finishing specialists, we are asked almost daily how one should protect and maintain reclaimed barn wood that is used indoors. The question may seem simple, but the answer is not! The main reason is that most traditional finishing products are not suited for barn wood, and that options are limited. Let's dig a little further.

Ever heard of "Shabby Chic" style? It's a style that originated from Great Britain in the 1980s, which combines chic and shabby: It is an interior and exterior design style in which furniture and accessories are chosen for their antiquated or used look, or artificially antiquated, projecting us in the past. Also called Cottage Chic, Beach Cottage Chic or French Country, the idea remains the same, with a few variants in the colors and tones that are preferred. The Shabby Chic style is available to anyone: It's easy to obtain this antiquated finish, even for beginners, as long as you can follow simple instructions and have the appropriate products.

As a wood finishing products retailer, we often get calls and emails from customers asking us if their leftovers from a product purchased 2, 5, or 10 years ago can still be used for a finishing project. The answers vary, since finishing products are made from different components, some of which may be sensitive to oxidation, moisture, light and temperature variations, and some which are impervious to these external factors. Anyone who had to throw away leftovers from a gallon of oil based paint or stain that has skinned, thickened or turned to gel knows how irritating and expensive it can be. Environmental costs must also be taken into account, as they are not negligible. Luckily, there are several ways to extend the shelf life of these sensitive leftovers, and even eliminate oxidation issues altogether. Read on to understand why leftovers go bad, and what you can do to prevent it.

Introducing Milk Paint, an ecological, versatile, unique paint which provides beautiful antique or modern looks to any surface.

Flour Paint...ring any bells? Also known as "swedish paint", "wheat paint", "ochre paint". In any case, it’s an ecological and resilient paint for vertical wood surfaces, made from simple ingredients, which can be easily prepared at home, while offering an excellent quality/price ratio.