Coffee?

[burritothechinchilla]

I am building a sweet new house for Burrito , and I was wondering.. could I use coffee grinds and water to stain the wood? Would that be ok for Burrito, or is it toxic? Thanks.

 

[Dustbunnies]

I wouldn't do that. Coffee contains theobromine (like chocolate). You can use unsweetened koolaid for a more colorful twist. Make sure and dry it very quickly and well to avoid mold growth. There are some other threads on here about this. Those may help and others that have done staining can give you more detail.

We wouldn't give the chins coffee, so we shouldn't color with it, IMO.

 

[menagerie]

I wouldn't do that. Coffee contains theobromine (like chocolate). You can use unsweetened koolaid for a more colorful twist. Make sure and dry it very quickly and well to avoid mold growth. There are some other threads on here about this. Those may help and others that have done staining can give you more detail.

We wouldn't give the chins coffee, so we shouldn't color with it, IMO.

I know that people use koolaid to dye wood all the time, but you wouldn't give koolaid to a chin either. :hmm:

I honestly don't know if dying wood with coffee or tea for that matter would be harmful.

 

[burritothechinchilla]

Yeah I want to make the house look old. I might try tea since it is just leaves.

 

[Dustbunnies]

I was going to suggest herbal tea (but dry well). Yes, I get the irony of not giving koolaid to chins. But coffee is a bit different and contains compounds that are known toxins for some animals. Some may be sensitive to certain koolaid dyes, but it isn't quite the same. If nothing else, stick with the natural. I like things to be colorful, too, but it is really for the humans.

 

[starleomach]

Just use some food coloring. That is what I do add a bit of water and shake peices in a baggie you are good to go

 

[Brittney]

From all my years of art in high school, I know for sure you can make brown with food coloring. Just mix red blue and yellow and whalah, brown. Just dilute with water for your desired lightness. You could probably buff it on the wood with a cloth and let it dry outside. Food coloring is totally safe. It might dye their fur if it gets wet, but that's about it.

 

[Brittney]

I sacrificed my wood and tested this out. And it turned out wonderful. I love it.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/Britt32190/004.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/Britt32190/005-2.jpg

I did a few different tones just to see which I liked. I think I'm going to go with the cherry wood look.

All I did was take red first; just a little goes a long way, then added yellow to it. You want a reddish orange color. Then add a drop of blue and mix it. You now have brown. Now if you want a darker brown, add more blue, if you want the cherry look, add more blue and red and less yellow. You can just play around with the color. Then take a soaked and lightly rung out cloth that you don't mind being ruined and buff it onto the wood. Keep moving though; don't leave it in one spot for too long. It works great and dries in about 10 minutes because you aren't soaking the wood.

Test it out, you can always cover up what you did; just start light to get the hang of it.

 

[Dustbunnies]

Not bad. Really brings out the brown in the poos :neener: Sounds like a better idea than coffee to me. I'll have to test it out.

 

[mishellyshel]

i actually have brown food coloring, it was a fall set! and food color is non toxic.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Now that I like. lol

I never thought about dying the shelves. I'm going to be putting new shelves in the trios cage soon, I might just color there shelves. They have a homemade cage so its a bit colorless other than their colored toys and apple wood before they chew the bark off.
I might color their house tomorrow. I'll post pictures of it when I get the chance.

 

[Rickman]

Looks good! Does it get darker if wet?
Some like to pee on the shelves - - -
Wonder if then white feet would change color??

 

[Brittney]

Looks good! Does it get darker if wet?
Some like to pee on the shelves - - -
Wonder if then white feet would change color??

I'm not sure as my boys are not shelf peeers. I let it dry and dropped some water on it, it does get dark when wet but goes back to normal when it dries, and ran a white cloth over it, nothing showed up. I guess it could vary depending on how much die you use

 

[Rickman]

Hmmmm - - -what color dye to use???

 

[Brittney]

I made brown with food coloring (Red, Yellow and Blue). I guess it's just your preference.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

I think for shelves I want a light cherry look. You know how to get it?

 

[Brittney]

I think for shelves I want a light cherry look. You know how to get it?

I just tested a scrap piece of wood to see what colors look good. I would say Take a lot of red, small about of yellow and mix that together and then add some blue. Those are the colors to make brown, maybe use a tad bit more red to the brown. You'd just have to test it.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Thanks Brittney.

I'm going to try dying their house shortly

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Here's pictures of the trios house after I've dyed it.

 

[Dustbunnies]

I did a small ledge in strawberry koolaid....same color as your house, but with a sweet smell! I just have it in the play area right now for them to sample. They have nibbled a bit on it. Neither are big ledge chewers yet (recently moved in (separately) to a FN with pine ledges, so just figuring it out). I will try another flavor on the other side of it to see what they like. I sure like the sweet smell and it catches their interest. Nice job on the house.