Bees wax polish - makeing your own
Bees wax polish
making your own
This blog has been waiting for a while, don't ask why… Just seemed as if it had to wait for winter and the turpentine to evaporate and the smell of bees wax to blend in with the smell of wood in the shop.
As many of you know, I have spend a good deal of time in Turkey these last years and the area we stay in are rich on many things but especially rich on bees and honey. With honey comes bees wax and since our land lords son is a honey maker, things just kind of took off by them self.
One day while visiting the family, the son came and gave me this as I was about to leave.
We had been speaking about the differences between Danish and Turkish honey and I told him about how I learned to make make honey by an old man on a Danish island when I was a kid, and how I loved to eat the fresh honey out the bee combs.
Here Filiz and I visit our land lord and her husband in the town on top of the mountain.
Back to bees, wax and honey.
Once back in Copenhagen, I released the comb from the frame.
Cut it to smaller bits.
Then manually squeezed out the honey.
Final cleaning through a sieve.
Turkish honey on glass.
It taste wonderful, different from our Danish honey, it's a more warm and round taste, where the Danish are more fresh and with a taste of flowers.
The wax was brought to the workshop and put in a tin half full with water, then slowly heated on the stove.
Don't look like a fine white wax…
Patience MaFe, patience.
Ok, while I wait, I dream my self back to Turkey and the coast in front of our house.
Yes I'm the child playing with rock.
As I dreams, the wax melts and now looks almost eatable…
A sleeve of an old shirt becomes a cloth for cleaning the wax.
Simply pour through the cloth, like this the impurities are filtered away.
Then repeat the process.
Here it is clear to see as it cools down, that the color is light yellow now.
After a while, the wax has set.
Then I cleaned the wax in running water and ran the last pieces that were in the dirty water through the sieve.
Please notice how dirty the water is.
This is te underside of the floating wax.
And a little extras.
All this were put back and re heated.
You might need to do this several times, I did it two times, then I was happy with the color of the boiling wax.
To my eye this looks clean and so I will put of the heat.
Once melted into a block I cleaned of the few impurities with a knife.
Finally a block of pure bees wax.
Since the wax is hard, it is useless as a polish now, so from now it's all about making it apply able and strong.
The wax is broken into smaller pieces and put in a double boiler.
I just use the same tin, but with a jar inside that I have mounted with a piece of metal wire.
Then I added some Carnauba wax , this gives the wax a more shiny gloss, not too much then the wax will become too hard.
I will make a traditional Danish møbel politur (furniture polish wax):
1½ bees wax (more makes softer)
¼ Carnauba wax (more makes harder)
1 spirit of turpentine (not White spirit, mineral spirits)
Then into the boiling water to make it melt together.
Once melted it can be dissolved with turpentine, here in Denmark we traditionally use the art painters turpentine so I will do it this way, but there are many ways, one is to use an oil instead, this can be a food quality oil, like this it can be used on food products also. But with the painters turpentine it gets a strong surface once it hardens.
Portuguese Balsam Turpentine)
(Art painters turpentine: Coming from a balm obtained from conifers and extracted by incision in the bark. Clear liquid with a very sharp and characteristic odor).
Away from the fire I mix in the turpentine.
Then mix and if needed put it back in the double boiler.
Once the mixing is completed, I put it in a tin and left it to set.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I put too little turpentine, or perhaps a wee too much carnauba, so it was much to hard to be apply able.
So back in the pot to melt.
Dreaming of days in Turkey as it melts.
Then more turpentine and back into the tin.
The tools are net aside for next time.
The wax had a strong smell the fist weeks, then it slowly started to get the Danish furniture polish smell, tones of wax and turpentine. I remember this smell from my childhood, what a joy.
On the second try the texture became just as I love it, perhaps on the soft side but as time goes the turpentine will evaporate and the wax get thicker, so it's perfect like this.
I have used it for some months now and love it, I smile when the smell comes to my nose as I open the tin and it sends me on a dream travel to Turkey at the same time, what more can one ask for.
I will end the blog with a picture of the sea in front of our Turkish getaway at least this is where the journey of the wax started.
There are so many versions, the list is as long as your imagination.
You can add food grade oils, linseed oil, paraffin, olive oil, almond oil, walnut oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, yes even whiskey! It's all up to your imagination and what you want to use it for.
Danish traditional møbel politur (furniture polish wax):
1½ bees wax (more makes softer)
¼ Carnauba wax (more makes harder)
1 spirit of turpentine (not White spirit, mineral spirits)
Here a few other recipes I found out there on the wild wild web:
Furniture polish with bees wax and linseed oil:
1 bees wax
1 boiled linseed oil
1 spirit of turpentine (not White spirit, mineral spirits)
Melt wax first, then add oil and turpentine you can add 0,05 part Carnauba 0,05 if you want a wee gloss.
Furniture polish bees wax:
Raw linseed oil and natural beeswax in a 4:1 ratio.
Furniture polish leather bees wax:
3 bees wax
1 spirit of turpentine (not White spirit, mineral spirits)
And it came with a users manual:
Sand the surface grid 320 and remove dust. Apply thin layer of wax in the grain direction with a thin piece of cloth folded three times. Rub it to a shine with a clean cloth, hard pressure and long strokes.
The wax are kept in a sealed container.
This wax van also be used on paints that has lost the shine or as a leather wax.
Wood turners oil:
Linseed oil with Carnauba wax
1 liter linseed oil
20-30 g Carnauba wax
siccative (for fast hardening)
Waterproofing (wool, leather, wood):
2 bees wax
1 linseed oil
1 turpentine
Waterproofing (oilskin):
1 bees wax
10 paraffin
Greenland style waterproof wax:
Ten parts paraffin wax to one part beeswax.
(Do they have bees in Greenland?).
Clean and polish wood furniture:
Mix 1 cup of olive oil, almond oil or walnut oil and 1/2 cup of white vinegar or lemon juice. Shake the mixture well, and apply a little bit to a soft rag. Spread the polish evenly over the furniture surface, then polish with a dry cloth.
Another homemade wood polish consists of 1/2 lemon oil and 1/2 white vinegar, pour the mixture into a spray bottle, and shake before using.
Dark wood polish consists of 1 teaspoon of olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon of whiskey or brandy, and 1 teaspoon of water. Mix and apply with soft cloth.
Woodmouse beeswax wood polish recipe:
1 part beeswax
4 parts almond oil (options include olive oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, walnut oil)
(Search the web, there are plenty of videos and ways to be inspired).
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=beeswax+furniture+polish
Hope it could inspire others to make their own bees wax polish, it is not as easy as to go and buy one, but it is a joy to make and understand where it comes from and it sure brings more joy to use.
Please post your own recipe if you have one to share.
Best thoughts,
Mads
Bees wax polish
making your own
This blog has been waiting for a while, don't ask why… Just seemed as if it had to wait for winter and the turpentine to evaporate and the smell of bees wax to blend in with the smell of wood in the shop.
As many of you know, I have spend a good deal of time in Turkey these last years and the area we stay in are rich on many things but especially rich on bees and honey. With honey comes bees wax and since our land lords son is a honey maker, things just kind of took off by them self.
One day while visiting the family, the son came and gave me this as I was about to leave.
We had been speaking about the differences between Danish and Turkish honey and I told him about how I learned to make make honey by an old man on a Danish island when I was a kid, and how I loved to eat the fresh honey out the bee combs.
Here Filiz and I visit our land lord and her husband in the town on top of the mountain.
Back to bees, wax and honey.
Once back in Copenhagen, I released the comb from the frame.
Cut it to smaller bits.
Then manually squeezed out the honey.
Final cleaning through a sieve.
Turkish honey on glass.
It taste wonderful, different from our Danish honey, it's a more warm and round taste, where the Danish are more fresh and with a taste of flowers.
The wax was brought to the workshop and put in a tin half full with water, then slowly heated on the stove.
Don't look like a fine white wax…
Patience MaFe, patience.
Ok, while I wait, I dream my self back to Turkey and the coast in front of our house.
Yes I'm the child playing with rock.
As I dreams, the wax melts and now looks almost eatable…
A sleeve of an old shirt becomes a cloth for cleaning the wax.
Simply pour through the cloth, like this the impurities are filtered away.
Then repeat the process.
Here it is clear to see as it cools down, that the color is light yellow now.
After a while, the wax has set.
Then I cleaned the wax in running water and ran the last pieces that were in the dirty water through the sieve.
Please notice how dirty the water is.
This is te underside of the floating wax.
And a little extras.
All this were put back and re heated.
You might need to do this several times, I did it two times, then I was happy with the color of the boiling wax.
To my eye this looks clean and so I will put of the heat.
Once melted into a block I cleaned of the few impurities with a knife.
Finally a block of pure bees wax.
Since the wax is hard, it is useless as a polish now, so from now it's all about making it apply able and strong.
The wax is broken into smaller pieces and put in a double boiler.
I just use the same tin, but with a jar inside that I have mounted with a piece of metal wire.
Then I added some Carnauba wax , this gives the wax a more shiny gloss, not too much then the wax will become too hard.
I will make a traditional Danish møbel politur (furniture polish wax):
1½ bees wax (more makes softer)
¼ Carnauba wax (more makes harder)
1 spirit of turpentine (not White spirit, mineral spirits)
Then into the boiling water to make it melt together.
Once melted it can be dissolved with turpentine, here in Denmark we traditionally use the art painters turpentine so I will do it this way, but there are many ways, one is to use an oil instead, this can be a food quality oil, like this it can be used on food products also. But with the painters turpentine it gets a strong surface once it hardens.
Portuguese Balsam Turpentine)
(Art painters turpentine: Coming from a balm obtained from conifers and extracted by incision in the bark. Clear liquid with a very sharp and characteristic odor).
Away from the fire I mix in the turpentine.
Then mix and if needed put it back in the double boiler.
Once the mixing is completed, I put it in a tin and left it to set.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I put too little turpentine, or perhaps a wee too much carnauba, so it was much to hard to be apply able.
So back in the pot to melt.
Dreaming of days in Turkey as it melts.
Then more turpentine and back into the tin.
The tools are net aside for next time.
The wax had a strong smell the fist weeks, then it slowly started to get the Danish furniture polish smell, tones of wax and turpentine. I remember this smell from my childhood, what a joy.
On the second try the texture became just as I love it, perhaps on the soft side but as time goes the turpentine will evaporate and the wax get thicker, so it's perfect like this.
I have used it for some months now and love it, I smile when the smell comes to my nose as I open the tin and it sends me on a dream travel to Turkey at the same time, what more can one ask for.
I will end the blog with a picture of the sea in front of our Turkish getaway at least this is where the journey of the wax started.
There are so many versions, the list is as long as your imagination.
You can add food grade oils, linseed oil, paraffin, olive oil, almond oil, walnut oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, yes even whiskey! It's all up to your imagination and what you want to use it for.
Danish traditional møbel politur (furniture polish wax):
1½ bees wax (more makes softer)
¼ Carnauba wax (more makes harder)
1 spirit of turpentine (not White spirit, mineral spirits)
Here a few other recipes I found out there on the wild wild web:
Furniture polish with bees wax and linseed oil:
1 bees wax
1 boiled linseed oil
1 spirit of turpentine (not White spirit, mineral spirits)
Melt wax first, then add oil and turpentine you can add 0,05 part Carnauba 0,05 if you want a wee gloss.
Furniture polish bees wax:
Raw linseed oil and natural beeswax in a 4:1 ratio.
Furniture polish leather bees wax:
3 bees wax
1 spirit of turpentine (not White spirit, mineral spirits)
And it came with a users manual:
Sand the surface grid 320 and remove dust. Apply thin layer of wax in the grain direction with a thin piece of cloth folded three times. Rub it to a shine with a clean cloth, hard pressure and long strokes.
The wax are kept in a sealed container.
This wax van also be used on paints that has lost the shine or as a leather wax.
Wood turners oil:
Linseed oil with Carnauba wax
1 liter linseed oil
20-30 g Carnauba wax
siccative (for fast hardening)
Waterproofing (wool, leather, wood):
2 bees wax
1 linseed oil
1 turpentine
Waterproofing (oilskin):
1 bees wax
10 paraffin
Greenland style waterproof wax:
Ten parts paraffin wax to one part beeswax.
(Do they have bees in Greenland?).
Clean and polish wood furniture:
Mix 1 cup of olive oil, almond oil or walnut oil and 1/2 cup of white vinegar or lemon juice. Shake the mixture well, and apply a little bit to a soft rag. Spread the polish evenly over the furniture surface, then polish with a dry cloth.
Another homemade wood polish consists of 1/2 lemon oil and 1/2 white vinegar, pour the mixture into a spray bottle, and shake before using.
Dark wood polish consists of 1 teaspoon of olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon of whiskey or brandy, and 1 teaspoon of water. Mix and apply with soft cloth.
Woodmouse beeswax wood polish recipe:
1 part beeswax
4 parts almond oil (options include olive oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, walnut oil)
(Search the web, there are plenty of videos and ways to be inspired).
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=beeswax+furniture+polish
Hope it could inspire others to make their own bees wax polish, it is not as easy as to go and buy one, but it is a joy to make and understand where it comes from and it sure brings more joy to use.
Please post your own recipe if you have one to share.
Best thoughts,
Mads