Real vs. Fake Petrified Wood: Focus on These 10 Differences

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Petrified wood adds a touch of natural beauty to furniture and decor. But with its popularity comes a flood of fakes! These fakes are usually real wood treated with plastics to mimic the look and feel of petrified wood. So, how can you tell the real deal from a clever imitation? Here are some key differences:

Hardness: Petrified wood is rock-solid because it’s replaced by minerals. Fakes won’t be as hard and may feel more like regular wood.
Weight: Real petrified wood feels surprisingly heavy for its size, thanks to the minerals packed inside. Fakes might feel lighter.
Grain Pattern: Even though petrified wood is stone, it still shows the wood’s natural grain. Fakes might have an uneven or strange-looking grain.
Color: Real petrified wood comes in a variety of colors, but they’ll be consistent throughout the piece. Fakes may have blotchy coloring or dyes used to create an artificial look.

By keeping these tips in mind, you can avoid getting fooled and enjoy the beauty of genuine petrified wood!

Here’s an interesting fact: Confusion sometimes arises because furniture makers use a process called “stabilization” to treat real wood. This stabilized wood can look similar to petrified wood, but it hasn’t been completely replaced by minerals.

Table of Contents

How to Tell if Petrified Wood is Real

Real petrified wood is a unique material, so we will pay attention to the properties that differentiate between real and fakes.

To tell if petrified wood is real, check the following properties: real petrified wood is hard and cannot be scratched by a piece of glass or a knife. Also, it is denser and feels heavier for its size than regular wood. Finally, real petrified wood is entirely composed of minerals, so no organic materials are present.

Petrified wood is a type of fossil formed due to the petrification process when a tree or plant is buried under sediment or volcanic ash and undergoes a process of mineralization, which replaces the organic material in the wood with minerals throughout millions of years.

To understand the nature of real petrified wood properties, let’s begin with the process of natural petrification and discover how a tree was converted into a stone:

The first step is the death and burial of a tree or plant. A plant can fall into the water or be covered by sediment when the plant dies. The overlaying of plants is crucial as it isolates oxygen and preserves wood from on-surface disintegration.

The second step is decay and mineralization. Over time, the organic material in the wood decays, leaving behind a porous structure. Minerals in the surrounding water, such as silica or calcite, gradually infiltrate the porous structure of the wood, replacing the organic material cell by cell.

The third step is consolidation. As the minerals replace the organic material, they gradually harden and consolidate the structure of the wood, creating a fossilized replica of the original plant.

The last stage is erosion and exposure, bringing petrified wood to the surface.

Now that we know that there is no more organic material in petrified wood and it is entirely composed of minerals, we can create a list of characteristics and features to look for in real petrified wood.

Hardness

Hardness is one of the most crucial features for identifying real petrified wood. Petrified wood is harder than regular wood and various substituents and cannot be easily scratched or chipped.

Weight

Petrified wood is denser than regular wood and should feel heavy for its size.

Grain Pattern

Petrified wood should retain the same pattern as its original wood form, with visible growth rings, knots, and other characteristics. If the grain pattern is not visible or is different, it is a sign of a possible fake.

Color

Petrified wood typically has a natural range of colors, excluding some bright and vibrant hues. For example, real petrified wood commonly occurs in reddish, yellowish, and brownish shades.

Mineral composition

The specimen should show signs of mineralization, with minerals replacing the organic material of the wood. If the specimen is not mineralized, it is natural wood or other man-made fakes.

What Does Real Petrified Wood Look Like

Real petrified wood looks like a piece of wood with a structure entirely made up of minerals. Real petrified wood occurs in natural brown, yellow, and red colors and has the same grain pattern with grown rings and knots. In the polished state, real petrified wood has a glassy luster, while natural wood is waxy.

Real petrified wood looks like a piece of wood that has been turned into stone. The wood’s original cellular structure has been replaced by minerals, usually silica, which creates a detailed, three-dimensional replica of the wood.

Real petrified wood can look different depending on the type of wood, environmental conditions, mineral solutions, time of petrification processes, and host rocks. However, they have similar features like hardness, grain pattern, and weight.

The colors of petrified wood can vary based on mineral composition. Still, generally, they remain warm and natural with gentle changing of shades and excluding any intense unnatural colors.

Real petrified wood can consist of a variety of minerals, depending on the conditions under which it was petrified:

The most common is silica. It can occur in different minerals like chalcedony, jasper, and agate.
Less common is calcite. It is often found in the cavities of wood that have been partially decayed or weathered.
Iron minerals (hematite or limonite) can be present in silica and calcite-based petrified wood. Iron oxides and hydroxides replace wood’s organic material and create reddish or yellowish color.
Pyrite and copper can be found in petrified wood as rare impurities.

TIP: Many petrified kinds of wood are unsuitable for rock tumbling or lapidary work because it has too many faults and fractures. Check out the guide on cutting and polishing petrified wood in the article below:
How To Cut & Polish Petrified Wood: Follow These 3 Steps

How to Tell Fake Petrified Wood

Fake petrified wood can be told apart with the help of scratch, weight, and hot pin tests. Fakes are scratched by a knife or a piece of glass. They feel light for their size and melt under the hot needle. Fake petrified wood can also occur in vibrant, unnatural colors like green, blue, and purple.

To tell real petrified wood, there are some simple at-home tests.

Scratch test

Petrified wood is much harder than regular wood and cannot be easily scratched. Try scratching the surface of the specimen with a sharp object such as a nail, a knife, or a piece of glass.

If the specimen is easily scratched, it may not be real petrified wood. For a detailed guideline on making a Scratch test, refer to the article Performing Scratch Test on Rocks (Follow These 8 Steps).

Weight test

Petrified wood is heavier than regular wood because minerals have replaced organic matter. Therefore, if the specimen feels light for its size, it may not be petrified wood.

Hot pin test

This test can help you determine if the specimen has been artificially treated. Heat a sewing needle until it is red hot and gently press it against the surface of the specimen.

If the needle leaves a mark or the surface melts, it is likely not petrified wood. Hot pin melts plastic, resin, or other polymer material commonly used to impregnate wood.

It is also good to ask professional geologists or paleontologists whether petrified wood is real. They can use different sophisticated methods to make an identification.

For example, microscopic examination, X-ray diffraction (XRD), chemical analysis, and many other techniques. Check this article to get acquainted with Modern Methods of Rock & Mineral Identification (by Expert).

BTW: Do you want to know more about rock and mineral identification? The books listed below are the best ones you can find on the internet (Amazon links):

Can Petrified Wood be Faked

Petrified wood can be faked in costume jewelry and small furniture objects. Fake petrified wood can be created by artificially adding minerals to a piece of wood, soaking it in a mineral-rich solution, coating it with polymers, or entirely made up of resin by molding and imitating wood texture.

There are two different approaches to making artificial petrified wood:

The first is when natural wood is enhanced to get closer to real petrified wood properties. Natural wood can be soaked in a mineral-rich solution or coated with mineral slurry or polymers.
The second is using different materials and making them look like petrified wood. Some artificial materials like molded resin and chunks of agate can be shaped in the form of wood and eventually painted to mimic the look of petrified wood.

Also, as has been covered previously, manufacturers do not intend to scam people by selling fakes. They officially produce artificial petrified wood for furniture production.

TIP: Petrified wood may be one of the unique minerals on the planet, but does it have any value out of niche collector circles? Find out the answer in the article below:
Crucial Factors of Petrified Wood Value: What’s the Worth?

Difference Between Real and Fake Petrified Wood

The most significant differences between real and fake petrified wood are hardness (real is harder), weight (real weights more), color ranges (real has soft natural colors), grain patterns (real preserves natural patterns with knots and rings), the presence of polymer impregnation (typical for fakes).

In the table below, you are welcome to check ten characteristic properties that help to differentiate between real and fake petrified wood.

Characteristic property	Real petrified wood	Fake petrified wood
Hardness	It is hard as it is composed mainly of silica. It cannot be scratched by a knife or a piece of glass.	It is commonly less hard and can be scratched by a knife.
Weight	Petrified wood is denser than regular wood and feels heavy for its size.	Fake petrified wood made up of natural wood or resin feels light.
Color range	Occur in warm natural colors: brown, orange, yellow, red, and creamy.	It can occur in bright colors: blue, green, and purple.
Grain pattern	The grain pattern is preserved with knots and rings and is generally continuous.	The grain pattern can be disrupted and may seem composed of different parts.
Luster	Glassy or vitreous.	Resenious and waxy.
The presence of mineral grains	It can have iron oxides, pyrite, and copper inclusions.	Usually do not have any crystal inclusions. Exceptionally, mineral grains can be added in a repetitive pattern.
Touch test	Feels cold to the touch.	Feels warm to the touch.
Hot pin test	No reaction.	The surface of the material starts to melt.
UV light test	No reaction. Exception, the presence of calcite.	The whole mineral surface can glow chalky-yellow or chalky-blue.
Presence of bubbles	No bubbles.	It can be present in polymers.

Difference Between Real and Fake Petrified Wood

TIP: Amber fakes are very diverse. Natural amber is an organic gemstone, so there is another way to spot amber fakes. Check out the differences in the article below:
Real vs. Fake Amber: 9 Key Differences & UV Light Testing

Where to Buy Real Petrified Wood

Petrified wood is a common material that can be found all around the world. Buying petrified wood is safe, and there are not so many fakes. It’s partially true; however, in small objects or costume jewelry, there is a possibility to come across fakes.

It is better to buy petrified wood from a reputable dealer who asks questions about its origin. It is safe to purchase petrified wood in a rough state, but always pay attention to the slabs and slices. Buying near the petrified wood localities and from specialized shops are the best places to make a purchase.

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Conclusion

There are a lot of petrified wood fakes. They are primarily used for furniture and design object production but sometimes can be substituted for real petrified wood without disclosure. There are ten main differences in spotting fake petrified wood.

They are hardness, weight, color range, grain pattern, luster, the presence of mineral grains, touch test, reaction to hot pin, UV light, and the presence of bubbles.

Conduct three main tests to tell apart real petrified wood and fake:

Hardness test. A metal object cannot scratch real petrified wood.
Weight test. Real petrified wood weighs more than its natural equivalent. You have to expect the weight of a stone.
Hot pin test. Real petrified wood does not react; however, fake petrified wood can start to melt.

Real petrified wood is generally harder than fakes and cannot be scratched by a metal object. It weighs more than its counterpart.

Real petrified wood preserves the grain pattern with knots and rings, while fakes can have interrupted texture. Real petrified wood occurs in natural colors, which excludes any vibrant green, blue, and purple.

TIP: Do you know where to find petrified wood near you? And what locations in the United States are the best? Check out the answer in the article below:
6 Best Locations for Finding Petrified Wood Near Me (USA)