EXOSHIELD - THE ULTIMATE CEDAR WOOD STAIN

ExoShield wood stain offers superior protection for exterior wood applications such as decking, siding and outdoor furniture. Our secret formula protects your project while allowing the natural beauty of the wood to remain the focus. Using a proprietary blend of Tung Oil, UV Blockers, and Trans-oxide pigments, our ExoShield formula provides long-lasting protection for exterior wood decking, siding & outdoor furniture while using only the finest marine grade components.

Nova has been producing ExoShield right here in Portland, Oregon since 2017. We have perfected our formula for both ease of application and longevity. For maximum penetration, the wood should be completely dry and acclimated to the local conditions. We recommend a maximum of 15% moisture content. Your wood should be fresh and bright, natural color, before starting to apply ExoShield. We highly recommend a light sanding and water popping to open up the wood cells before finishing.

Highest Amount of UV Blocking Available

Longest Lasting Color and Protection Available

Up to 450 SF of Coverage on Softwoods such as Cedar

Up to 800 SF of Coverage on Hardwoods

Low VOC, All Natural Product

Marine Grade Components

Perfect for Western Red Cedar, Alaska Yellow Cedar, Incense Cedar, & Japanese Cedar as well as all other Softwoods such as Redwood, Yellow Pine, Douglas Fir & Hemlock

Works Great on Tropical Hardwoods including Ipe, Batu, Red Balau, Mahogany, Golden Balau, Torem, Cumaru & Tigerwood

We strongly recommend that all hardwood and softwood products receive a minimum of one coat of an oil-based finish even when the customer wants the wood to eventually gray or silver out. This initial layer of protection will help to minimize checking, warping, cupping and decay in all exterior wood applications. We are proud to offer the very finest and longest lasting exterior oil-based transparent stain in the market today.

Nova’s ExoShield Tung oil wood finish is a high-quality deep-penetrating Tung oil finish that protects and beautifies all exterior and interior wood projects. ExoShield uses the highest quality UV blockers available and UV stable trans-oxide pigments that enhance the natural beauty of wood. ExoShield was designed to be the best wood finish ever produced.

Why is a Tung oil wood stain the best choice? The use of Tung oil on wood originated thousands of years ago in China and Egypt, where it was used as a preservative on wooden ships. Today, it is woodworkers #1 choice to add protection and beauty to finished projects.

ExoShield exterior wood stain takes advantage of the penetrative and protective properties that Tung oil contains, to create a naturally durable finish with exceptional color stability. The Tung oil used in ExoShield exterior wood stain provides a naturally water-resistant, acid-resistant and easy to use wood stain for all your needs. ExoShield wood stain stabilizes the wood and greatly reduces the chances of boards cracking or warping.

ExoShield is offered in nine distinct colors from a completely pigment-free Clear to the most beautiful dark Black Walnut you could imagine. Snow White and Total Eclipse are our newest standard colors; all nine are shown on cedar in the samples below. We recommend using our pigmented colors for decks and siding or any exterior application that has a lot of UV exposure. Darker colors provide more UV protection than our Clear and Natural, but Clear and Natural can also be used in high UV exposure applications with more frequent maintenance coats.

All nine standard ExoShield colors on clear vertical-grain Western Red Cedar, and the original seven on select tight-knot (STK) cedar, rough-sawn face above and smooth face below. Screen colors are only a guide: test your chosen color on a scrap of your own boards before committing to the whole job.

Cedar is a popular choice for customers looking to build a new deck, fence, or siding because of its great natural looks, easiness to work with, and durability. Cedar does have its drawbacks though, as it is a sensitive wood, meaning it is more susceptible to scratches and dents. The color may also fade over time. These are serious problems. The solution? ExoShield. This powerful stain on Cedar will minimize damage and ensure that the natural color of the wood lasts longer. Using ExoShield wood stain will upgrade all of your Cedar wood products. The weather won’t compromise on Cedar, why should you?

Cedar's natural durability and rich color come from its extractives, the oils, tannins, and other compounds that make the heartwood resistant to decay and insects. Many of these compounds are water-soluble. When cedar gets wet, water can carry extractives to the surface, and as it evaporates it leaves reddish-brown streaks, blotches, or dark rundown marks. This is called extractive bleed or tannin bleed. It's most common on new wood, after rain or heavy dew, and below fasteners, joints, and end grain.

Extractive bleed is mostly a problem for film-forming finishes such as latex paints, acrylic solid-color stains, and water-borne clear coats. Moisture trapped under a film dissolves extractives and pushes them into or through the coating, which is why painted cedar usually needs a stain-blocking primer.

ExoShield works differently. It is a penetrating tung oil finish that soaks into the wood instead of forming a surface film, so there is no film to discolor or blister. By reducing how much water the surface absorbs, it also limits how much extractive gets pulled to the surface.

• Start dry. Cedar should be at 15% moisture content or lower and acclimated to local conditions. Use a moisture meter; don't guess.
• Clean off any existing bleed first. If streaks or rundown have already appeared, clean the surface with an oxalic-acid wood brightener, rinse well, and let the wood dry completely before finishing. Finishing over extractive stains locks them in.
• Weathered cedar that was never finished. Grey, sun-beaten cedar carries a layer of loose, degraded surface fibers that will not hold oil. Scrub it with a sodium-percarbonate wood cleaner and a stiff non-metallic brush, rinse, then apply an oxalic-acid brightener to neutralize the cleaner and lift tannin and iron stains. It can take two or three rounds to get through several years of grey. Sand any areas that are still fuzzy or badly weather-beaten with 60–100 grit, let the wood dry two to three days to 15% MC or lower, and treat it as new wood. Do not pressure wash cedar: the soft earlywood tears out and the surface will not finish evenly.
• Cedar with an old finish. If the previous coat was a penetrating oil or a semi-transparent oil stain, a thorough cleaning and brightening as above, plus mildew removal, is normally all it needs before a fresh coat of ExoShield. Paint, solid-color stain, and any latex or film-forming finish must come off completely: strip it with a commercial wood stripper, rinse, let it dry, sand the bare wood smooth, brighten, and start over as new wood. ExoShield is a penetrating oil and cannot soak through a film that is still on the surface.
• Be careful with water popping. Water popping opens the grain on dense hardwoods, but on cedar, wetting the surface can draw extractives up. If you water-pop cedar, give it enough dry time to return to 15% MC or lower, and check for new discoloration before applying ExoShield.
• Lightly sand smooth, flat-grain boards. A light scuff-sand improves penetration on smooth-planed cedar. Rough-sawn and textured cedar usually needs no sanding.
• Never use steel wool or wire brushes. Iron particles react with cedar's natural extractives and leave dark blue-black stains. Use synthetic abrasive pads and non-metallic brushes.
• Use stainless steel fasteners. Plain steel and electro-galvanized fasteners cause the same iron-staining reaction and leave black streaks around every nail or screw. Type 304 or 316 stainless is the safe choice for cedar.
• Seal end grain. End grain soaks up far more water than face grain and is where bleed usually starts. Seal cut ends with ExoWax End Sealer before installation.
• Test your color first. Our lightest colors, Clear and Snow White, show any existing extractive discoloration most. Test your chosen color on a scrap of your actual boards before you finish the whole job.

Light extractive streaking that shows up after a heavy rain often fades with UV exposure and further weathering. If it persists, clean the affected area with an oxalic-acid brightener, rinse, let it dry fully, and apply a light maintenance coat of ExoShield, wiping off all excess within 10–30 minutes.

The Western Red Cedar Lumber Association (WRCLA), through its Real Cedar program, publishes the industry's reference guidelines for installing, finishing, and maintaining cedar. We recommend reading them alongside our ExoShield instructions before starting any cedar project:

• How to Finish Western Red Cedar Siding — surface prep, moisture content, and applying penetrating oil stains
• Choosing a Finish for Cedar Siding — comparing penetrating oils, semi-transparent stains, and solid-color coatings
• Cedar Siding Care & Maintenance — cleaning, discoloration, and refinishing
• Outdoor Cedar Finishing Choices — decks, fences, and outdoor structures
• Western Red Cedar Decking — decking installation, finishing, and maintenance
• How to Finish Western Red Cedar Decking — surface prep, finish selection, and application for cedar decks
• Western Red Cedar Siding Restoration — prepping weathered or previously finished siding
• Restoring Western Red Cedar Decking — cleaning, refinishing, and stripping an old deck finish
• Outdoor Cedar Restoration — cleaners, brighteners, and strippers compared
• Yellow Cedar Guidelines — for Alaska Yellow Cedar projects

ExoShield's recommendations follow these guidelines. Our 15% maximum moisture content is stricter than WRCLA's 20% limit, because a drier board takes more oil and gives a longer-lasting finish.

A note on VOCs: WRCLA points out that solvent-borne coatings, and how often they are reapplied, add to a cedar project's environmental footprint. ExoShield is a low-VOC formulation, under 150 g/L, built for long intervals between maintenance coats, which reduces how often you need to refinish.