How to Make Historic Beeswax Furniture Polish

Step 1: Melt the Refined Beeswax

The first step to make this historical beeswax furniture polish is to start melting some refined pure beeswax in a double boiler setup. There’s no special beeswax for wood, just normal refined beeswax. And this is the most affordable beeswax I have purchased, though it comes in a 10 pound package. You can also find refined beeswax here at Ebay. And you can alternatively buy raw beeswax from local beekeepers and refine it yourself.

Simply break up pieces of the pure refined beeswax and place them in a clear glass bowl (like a Pyrex bowl). There’s no need to use a cheese grater as some people suggest. That’s messy. Then place the glass bowl on top of a pot of boiling water and let the beeswax melt.

It is important that you use refined beeswax so particles of debris won’t scratch your furniture. In one of my recent videos, Don Williams (retired Senior Furniture Conservator at the Smithsonian Institution) shared a tutorial on his simple method for refining raw beeswax (watch it here). This is more-or-less the method that I now use.

Step 2: Mix Turpentine and Boiled Linseed Oil in a Jar

While the beeswax is melting you can mix the turpentine and boiled linseed oil. You will not be heating the boiled linseed oil or turpentine in my method, as I prefer to keep my face intact. Please don’t try methods that recommend heating the entire mixture. There is no need. Get a small canning jar, and mix equal amounts of turpentine and boiled linseed oil.

I like the small 6 ounce canning jars because the jars have a 2 ounce mark, 4 ounce mark, and 6 ounce mark. This is perfect for adding an equal mixture of all three ingredients (1/3 of each).

The boil linseed oil acts as a penetrating agent to bring out depth and enhance the figure of the wood. That’s the secret ingredient that makes this a wood seasoning beeswax finish. But oil is optional. Some historical recipes use just beeswax and turpentine. Turpentine is a solvent derived from pine tree sap, and is used to keep the beeswax from hardening too much.

As I just mentioned, some of the historic beeswax furniture polish recipes use just beeswax and turpentine, when surface penetration is not desired. But I like the addition of boiled linseed oil because I use this as more of a wood finish than just a furniture polish. I like how the oil darkens the wood over time.

But don’t use raw linseed oil, because your finish will take weeks to dry. Modern boiled linseed oil isn’t actually boiled, but uses chemical dryers to accelerate the drying process of the oil. Go ahead and use a clean stick or spoon to mix the boiled linseed oil and turpentine.

Step 3: Add the Melted Beeswax

Next you will use hot pads to carefully pour the melted beeswax from the hot glass bowl into the jar that contains the turpentine and boiled linseed oil. You can add the same amount of beeswax as the other ingredients (1/3 oil, 1/3 turpentine, 1/3 beeswax) or you can add slightly less or more beeswax. This just depends on how you prefer your finish. There really are so many variations, so that’s why it’s good to just start off with this simple recipe of three equal parts.

I’ve found that adding 1/3 beeswax (or less) will give you a softer beeswax polish, which gives you more time before you have to buff the finish out. But it also gives you less sheen after buffing. If you add more than 1/3 beeswax you’ll get a higher sheen. But be sure to buff the finish out in about 10-15 minutes or else you’ll have a difficult time getting it buffed. It’ll be sticky instead of smooth. Just experiment. You can always add more beeswax later if you want the polish to be harder. You can also add more turpentine later, if the polish is too hard.

Stir the beeswax wood polish mixture together immediately after pouring in the hot wax, and then put the jar lid on. The beeswax will clump up a bit and look cloudy, which is normal for wax hitting cool liquid. The turpentine will eventually dissolve the beeswax clumps.

Step 4: Set the Beeswax Furniture Polish Near a Window

Place the jar of freshly mixed beeswax furniture polish near a warm sunny window and let it sit for at least a day to dissolve the beeswax and thicken the polish. This is what the equal parts mixture looks like when it’s dissolved and ready to use:

Step 5: Apply and Buff the Beeswax Furniture Polish

Of course, the beeswax furniture polish finish will be thin and creamy at first because it has been sitting near a warm window, but it gets more solid when it’s stored out of the warm sunlight. In the winter months it will be hard and you’ll have to soften it up in a heated room before using it.

Apply the beeswax wood polish with a clean cloth (like an old T-shirt), and then buff it out with a clean cloth after 10-15 minutes, or else the wax may become too hard. This will be even more important if you use more beeswax in your mixture. Another application method is to use a French Polissoir. I created another video of Don Williams teaching how to use a French Polissoir to burnish a beeswax finish (watch it here).

Conclusion

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial on making historical beeswax furniture polish! At the bottom of this page you can ask questions or tell me how you like this polish. You can also subscribe to receive more free woodworking articles and videos like this: