P43 The colour of oak furniture in communist-era living rooms

Accept Anamaria's challenge and I'm trying to tell you about this P43.

Pitch and turpentine, the raw materials to make P43 bath

P43 was the most common color in furniture stores before the revolution. Almost all oak furniture was this color or its darker version P44. The color itself is a yellow-brown with slight green or orange iridescence.

The original version of the color was obtained by hot dissolving a quantity of pitch in white spirit. It was done in any factory laboratory and required no sophisticated apparatus. An electric stove was sufficient. The only problem was the odor of the solvent, heavy and persistent. Do you remember how it smelled in the apartment after washing the floors with Petrosin? That was the smell.

As good for oak, as unsuitable for beech

Extraordinary about this baywood was the "chemistry" between the oak and the baywood. The coloring was perfectly uniform, without stains, the pores were very nicely marked, as if they were antiqued with special patinas, there were no problems after drying. But with other woods, especially beech, it was a big problem. On beech, stains were always appearing, it was practically impossible to stain beech that way. That's why P43 was made from Codlea colorants or, later, from coloring solutions.

The P43 fashion continued for a while after '89, but slowly, slowly the furniture coloring diversified, using other colors, other finishes.

I hope you find the information useful. As always, additions are welcome. And if you have any questions or queries, please leave them below in the dedicated space. I will be sure to reply.