Project Wood ​Polishes: Rolling your own​


I have been making up different home brew wax polishes, so I thought I
would share with the Porch.  Here are some hints for anyone wanting to try
to make their own, not because you will save tons of money, but because we
are Galoots, and that is how we roll, eh?

*Tools/Supplies Needed: *

Microwave or Glue pot/double boiler

Wooden stir stick,

Tiny mason jars (wide mouth jelly jars are usually heat safe- read your
label)

Mineral Oil USP (Food grade, purchased at a pharmacy
​ or walmart​
- very cheap- a quart is like $5)

​Pure cakes of Bees Wax (Picked up at country markets from the honey guys-
also pretty cheap)

*Optional Ingredients/ Supplies​:*

Kitchen scale-( so you can record how much went into your formula so that
you can make it again exactly the same way)

Pure Tung Oil

Pure Walnut Oil

Pure RAW Linseed Oil or sometimes Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO)

Essential Oils- small vial of whatever scent floats your boat

Turpentine

I make my own mix
​es​
that I heat in a microwave.  I
​ use s
mall open mouth jelly jars
​ (I think these are 3 ounce size or something)- you need to get your hand
and rag in there​
.
​  I vary the formula according to what I have available at the time I am
making it and depending on what I am trying to accomplish.  I included a
small jelly jar of the polish with a dining table I just made for my
daughter, so consider giving one of these with whatever wood working
project you are giving away as a gift as and added touch.​

____________________________________________

This is all you need to know (between the lines):

​*Easy Simple Formula*= Mineral oil plus Beeswax, 4 to 1 is firm
consistency, 6 to 1 is creamy

This is cheap- the small jelly jar will cost you more than the contents.

The mineral oil/beeswax mix lasts for years and does not seem to ever go
bad.

____________________________________________

None of the amounts are written in stone, and the more you vary the
contents, the sooner you will learn what you like in a polish for your
particular projects.  The absolutely easiest one, that will NOT go rancid,
is plain old food grade mineral oil and beeswax.  The more oil you use, the
creamier the mix.  I basically fill up about 2/3 the jar with the mineral
oil (sold in pharmacies to take by mouth) then shave off some bits of
beeswax to fill the jar, then heat it very slowly (low power setting) in
the microwave (or your glue pot- double boiler set up).   As it heats up,
the wax will melt and then you may want to stir it a bit with some wooden
coffee stir sticks or whatever, and then let it cool, cap it, and then you
are done. (Olive oil goes rancid eventually, but you could substitute that
for the mineral oil for short term use but I don't like the smell).  Since
it is all made from edible stuff, you can use it on cutting boards, treen
etc.

*Variations*:

If I am using a mix for the inside of drawers or a box, which I never use
any film finish on, I like to add a drop of an essential oil, I love the
scent of lavender oil (like the well known British
beeswax commercial polish), but lemon essential oil or other will also
smell very nice, and it is a nice touch.​  See what is available in your
area at a health food place- there are all sorts of things available now
that were once really hard to find-
 a single drop for a whole
​ jelly​
jar, but less is more, if you know what I mean.  The idea is to get just a
slight hint of a scent when you open the box or whatever you made.
​Oil of Clove, Sage, etc.  Experiment for your favorite.

Changing Up the Oils Used in your Polish Blend-

*Making 'Cleaning Polishes'*, or  *'Finish-Refreshing/Restoring Polishes'*

I have tried different oils  in addition to the mineral oil, depending on
what i want the polish to do.  I sometimes add some 'hardening' oils, such
as tung oil- these are usually available in relatively pure food safe non
polymerized formulas for bowls etc-- (ie on an item that will be coming
into contact with food).​  I think that this means that your turning will
keep getting some new very thin coats of finish as the years go by ( but I
am not sure if these oils work the same way when they are compounded like
this with waxes- maybe a chemist galoot can chime in here?)

  For tool handle polish-cleaner you can use some linseed oil and turps to
the mix- the RAW kind will not harden anytime soon, but the boiled one
will, i think.  Your polish will be bright yellow with the linseed oil
(think pee after you take some multivitamins).   I am not sure if these
change over time (polymerize), so only mix a tiny batch up to use up in a
few months since it might go 'off'.

 BLO: Unfortunately, there are all sorts toxic stuff in the boiled version,
so read your labels/ MSDS sheets to make sure it is suitable for your
application.  I have never made one with just the linseed oil and the wax-
I have always used at least some mineral oil, but experiment- its fun to
make your own formula.

 If you add pure turpentine (not varsol - I like real turpentine, ie from
trees):  This is a fire hazard when heating this so use caution- ie no
stove top or open flame, common sense, yada yada-- I have used the
microwave and I have not had any issues, apart from the usual complaints
from SWMBO ("what did you do in here- it stinks!", etc).

Fancy schmancy hard wax, like Carnauba wax, although expensive, will make
your polish stand up to hard use much better and adding some definitely
makes a difference- it shines up very nicely with buffing.
​I don't mix in too much
of the wax stick to my beeswax/oil blend since
​
 it makes it
​ ​
harder to rub out the polish to a shine
​, and
a small stick of the real stuff is rather expensive
​compared to bees wax ​
.​

  The carnauba wax stick is as hard as a rock, so you may want to 'borrow'
the cheese grater, instead of trying to cut off bits with a knife and watch
the chunks fly off to never be found again.

 The turpentine I think acts as a carrier, allowing deeper penetration of
the waxes and oils, as well as helping to clean off crud (try out different
concentrations to find one that works for your application).

*Color:*

  The walnut oil is a  brown color, so you may not want to use it on a
really light colored wood, but will nicely color your darker woods and this
makes a darker polish.  Tung is clear, as is mineral oil, and the beeswax
is light yellow tan color, but I don't really notice any color change with
the mineral oil beeswax blend alone.

  I bought small vials of  Mixol Color concentrates from a specialty finish
supplier.  You can always also pick up a tube of eg burnt sienna artist
paint and use that to mix in with the oil to tint it to suit your project,
or go wild with a dab of different color artist paint to make special
tinted waxes to fill the grain if you want that effect.  Dollar stores
often sell small oil paint sets with all the colors you could ever want.

Cheers from Waterloo, Ontario

Claudio