DIY Beeswax Wood Polish and Sealant

A jar of beeswax.  Photos: The DIY Life Blogspot.com

Warrior Publications Note: This is a great all natural wood sealant and stain.  I use it often on carvings, tool handles, etc.  This article from a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) blog provides a step-by-step method for making an oil-beeswax mix.  Beeswax can also be used for a variety of other purposes, including protecting carbon steel against rust, a lubricant for joints and moving parts (including zippers), waterproofing leather boots & gloves, etc.

by The Modern DIY Life.blogspot
Since I have mentioned  DIY Beeswax Wood Sealant in many of my posts, I figured it was about time I showed you how to make it! This polish will help protect the color of your stain, seal your wood from unwanted stains, and keep the wood from drying out and cracking. It can also serve as a standalone wood sealer and stain.

I first discovered beeswax furniture polish a few months ago when I was looking for a varnish alternative. The main option for sealing most furniture projects is using commercial varnishes that contain harsh chemicals. The chemicals have strong odors that lead to indoor air pollution long after the varnish has dried. In an effort to improve my indoor air quality while still protecting my wood working projects I now use a DIY beeswax wood sealant exclusively on all of my indoor furniture.Check out the instructions below to make your own!

The DIY Modern Life Beeswax Wood Sealant and Wood Polish

This beeswax wood polish/wood sealant is super quick and easy. For this recipe you will need the following supplies and about 20 minutes of your time: 

1. Olive Oil – I use the organic Whole Foods brand. You can use any olive oil you have.
2. Beeswax – Often found at Health Food Stores, Farmers Markets, and online at Dadant or Amazon. I would recommend small pellets vs a big brick as they melt down much quicker.
3. A medium sized pot or saucepan
4. Pyrex measuring cup or Mason Jar
5. Knife (or cheese grater) – if you don’t have beeswax pellets.

Beeswax Wood Polish Recipe

I use slightly more beeswax than other recipes out there as I think it helps to better protect the wood.

• 1 part beeswax
• 3 parts olive oil

Essentially, if you are making 1 cup of beeswax furniture polish you would add 1/4 cup beeswax and 3/4 cups olive oil.The beeswax I am using I found at Whole Foods. In the future I will probably pick some up at the farmers market. If I need more this winter I will just order it online. The first thing you will want to do is cut it up into smaller pieces. Some people use a cheese grater for this but I find that to be a huge hassle and instead I just use a knife.

You can cut it into really small pieces with a knife like I did in the picture below. However this will take some time and it will dull your knife.

I  think the best way is to just cut it into a few medium sized chunks.  It might take a little longer to melt this way but it saves time and effort overall.

Next go ahead and put the beeswax chunks into the pryrex measuring container,  it’s time to melt the beeswax!

This is just a note on safety. Many people make beeswax wood polish in the microwave, but when doing so there is a potential danger that the beeswax could catch fire. That said, the microwave method can be done safely. Just make sure to carefully monitor the beeswax and heat it in multiple short periods – stirring in between – rather than one long time period. This will help it melt faster and it will be easier to check on.

A safer way to make beeswax polish is to use the double boiler method. An easy DIY version of a double boiler can be made by using a Pryex container inside a larger pot or pan. Fill the pot about halfway full with water and heat it to the point just before boiling. The trick is to keep the water warm without letting it boil, this will prevent any possible combustion of the beeswax. 

Using the double boiler method I melted about 1/4 cup of beeswax in less than 10 minutes. Once it has completely melted you can remove the pryex measuring cup. Keep the water boiling as you will need it for a few minutes more. This is what it melted beeswax will look like.

Now that you have the melted beeswax, you can see what the wax melted down to in order to add 3 parts more olive oil. Conveniently enough mine melted down to exactly 1/4 cup. The next step is adding 3 parts olive oil (in this case it will be 3/4 cups olive oil) to make 1 cup total of the beeswax wood sealant.

When you add the olive oil it will probably cause the beeswax to solidify a little. No problem! We still have the hot water in our double boiler, so just put the measuring cup back into the pot of water and give it a stir. It should completely liquify in a minute or two.

Once it has all melted down, remove the measuring cup from the pot and turn off the stove. You are almost done!

All that is left to do is to transfer the beeswax to a storage container. I love to use the 1/2 pint wide mouth mason jars. If you plan on using all of the beeswax wood sealant in one project you could also just leave it in the measuring cup. I only needed a little for my project so I wanted to store the leftovers.

Your beeswax wood polish and wood sealant is now ready to use! If you are using it as a wood sealant and stand alone stain it works best to use it while still warm. Just give it a few stirs and it should be a good consistency for a couple of hours. If it gets too firm you can always put it in the microwave for 30 seconds – 1 minute. If using as a beeswax furniture polish it works best when it has cooled and hardened a little. In this state it can be stored for about a year after making it. Just keep it sealed and out of direct sunlight.If you would like to see how the beeswax wood sealant looks when applied to a piece of furniture, check out this post where I apply it to a DIY coat rack that I made. 

* Article originally published Saturday, December 1, 2012

http://themoderndiylife.blogspot.ca/2012/12/diy-beeswax-wood-polish-and-sealant.html