Though few people entertain the possibility that they can make their own furniture polish, in truth, it can actually be done quite simply with beeswax. If you set your mind to it, purchase a few items, and roll up your sleeves, you can have your own furniture polish made of beeswax in no time at all. Read these five tips to help you make your own beeswax furniture polish to learn how to get the project done from start to finish. Hopefully, by the end of this DIY adventure, you will feel that sense of pride and accomplishment that drives people to take on these challenges in the first place.
Why Make Your Own Beeswax Furniture Polish
Very few people ever stop to consider if furniture polish is a project they can DIY. It just does not seem immediately obvious. Most just go to the store for their option whenever they need to polish their furniture. However, you can save a great deal of money and feel supremely accomplished if you make furniture polish for yourself. By following these five tips to help you make your own beeswax furniture polish, you will save a nice chunk of change, and you’ll also feel the self-confidence that comes from completing your own DIY project.
What You Need
Before you get started, you must make sure you have all the ingredients you need for a successful furniture polish. This includes:
- Refined beeswax
- Turpentine
- Boiled linseed oil
- Glass jar
- Glass bowl
- Spoon
1. Melt Refined Beeswax
Your first step in the beeswax furniture polish DIY process is to use the double boiler method to melt the refined beeswax. To accomplish this, you first want to make sure you have refined beeswax on hand. With refined beeswax, the particles of debris will not scrape the furniture.
First, break the beeswax into a few pieces and put them into a glass bowl. Pyrex bowls, for instance, are appropriate for this task. Do not take out the cheese grater, as that is an unnecessarily messy option. Many DIY-ers have made that mistake before. To melt the beeswax, place the bowl on the boiling water pot.
2. Mix Turpentine and Boiled Linseed Oil
For this set of instructions, we will not tell you to boil turpentine or linseed oil. At Crystal’s Honey Inc., we find it is generally best not to play around with heat and volatile chemicals. You do not need to burn the entire mix, and you should avoid instructions that encourage you to do so.
Get your hands on a tiny canning jar, and then mix equal portions of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. Six-ounce canning jars have their advantages, as they have markers for two ounces, four ounces, and six ounces. This is ideal for creating a mixture of three ingredients.
Turpentine, a solvent made from the sap of pine trees, keeps beeswax from hardening. The penetrating agent known as boiled linseed brings out wood’s figure. In the past, when craftsmen did not desire surface penetration, they have made polishes of only turpentine and beeswax. But modern boiled linseed oil has several advantages. It makes the wood darker and acts as a finish. Do not use raw linseed oil. The finish will not dry for weeks. Boiled linseed oil made today is not really boiled, but instead uses a chemical to speed up the drying. Mix the ingredients together using a spoon.
3. Add Melted Beeswax
Using hot pads, pour the beeswax into the jar with the boiled linseed oil and turpentine. Be very careful. It is hot! You want to add an equal amount of beeswax as you did the other items, so you should have one-third oil, one-third turpentine, and one-third beeswax. You can also add slightly less beeswax, depending on your preference. There are many, many variations on this recipe, so it is a good idea to start with the simplest approach.
If you add slightly less beeswax, you must allow yourself more time before you buff out the finish. Adding one-third beeswax or more forces you to buff the finish in ten to fifteen minutes, or else it will be far more difficult to buff. It will become sticky, not smooth. Stir the mix together right after pouring the wax and seal the jar with its lid. It is typical for beeswax to clump up a bit when it hits cool liquid. The clumps will eventually be dissolved by the turpentine.
4. Set Near a Window
It takes at least one day for the beeswax to dissolve and the polish to thicken. To accomplish this effect, you must leave the jar close to a warm, sunny window.
5. Apply and Buff
Since it has been sitting near the sunny window for a full day, your finish will come out creamy and thin at first. It will solidify more if you store it out of the warm sunlight. During the winter months, the mixture will be hard. You must soften it in a warm room before it can be used.
Finally, you can put the finish onto the furniture with a piece of cloth. An old shirt would work nicely. After ten to fifteen minutes, you can buff it off. If you fail to complete this in the required amount of time, the wax may harden too much. Especially when you use more beeswax for your recipe, it is even more important to get the timing right.
Summation
Making your own furniture polish using beeswax is a time-honored technique and tradition. Most people do not even realize they have the option to make their own furniture polish, as it is so easily accessible at the store. But there is no reason to spend money on something you can do yourself, especially when the process is so easy and enjoyable.
The next time you need to polish furniture, do not just immediately jump to the hardware store to get their polish. Instead, think back to this article and remember the amazing options beeswax offers. Also, if you ever need to purchase bulk raw beeswax, look no further than our extensive collection here at Crystal’s Honey Inc.
