Maintaining the Appearance of Decorative Barrels
Every barrel will dry over time if they are left empty. This is due to the natural state of the barrel being full of liquid. There’s a few tricks you can do to make your barrel looking nice and in a natural state.
Putting about 20L of water in the barrel when you receive it and bunging it up (we can supply silicone bungs through our online shop) this will keep the barrel nice and hydrated on the inside. The water will evaporate over time so you will need to top it up every now and again. You can also add sodium and citric acid to the water to stop the water from going off while in the barrel.
Reviving a Dry Barrel: Tips and Tricks:
- you can try to reswell the barrel by filling it up with water, you can even put a sprinkler inside of it and leave it for a while and the oak will absorb the water and reswell to its natural state.
- You can knock the bands down and screw them in, this will tighten the structure of the barrel up.
If your barrel is going to live outdoors we suggest a barrel cover which we can supply as well, this will stop the barrel from weathering (like an outdoor deck) when left in the sun.
