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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

wood polish {a recipe}



Today Buddy and I worked a little on gifts for two of my nephews.  We applied a little beeswax polish to some wooden peg men that will be part of a small, indoor, skittles set.

In the picture below you can see the original, untreated peg man on the very left.  He is next to the three that Buddy had already polished.  Aren't they lovely and warm looking with a coat of the polish on?  Would you like to make your very own polish for your wooden toys and kitchen items?



Beeswax Wood Polish

2 Tablespoons of grated beeswax
6 Tablespoons of olive oil
Essential Oil of your choice (optional)

This is actually the same recipe I use for all of my salves.  I may add different oils or essential oils, but the measurements are the same.  Here is what I do:

Using a glass jar, I put the beeswax in and place the jar into a pan of water on the stove.  Boil the water as the beeswax melts.  Turn the heat down a bit and add the oil.  It is very important to add the oil while the jar is still in the simmering water.  If not the cool temps of the oil will cause the beeswax to clump.  Trust me- this has happened to me before when I've been in a rush.  (Here is a good picture of us doing this in the past).

After the the oil and the beeswax have combined, remove the jar from the water.  If you are adding essential oils, this is the time to do it.  Add 20-30 drops.

At this point you can pour it into your clean container.  In this case, I made it in the container I am storing it in- a clean baby food jar.  Give it a little stir with a skewer or wooden stick and let it cool.  After it cools some, you can place into the refrigerator so it will set nicely.

When you go to use it, find a small rag to dip into the polish.  It only takes a small amount of polish.  You will also need to wipe off the excess or it will attract everything- hair, dust, crumbs- you name it.  And that is it!

I made this polish on Saturday and made a jar of chest rub at the same time (like Vick's).  It was a busy day in the home apothecary- and one of my most favorite ways to spend a morning!

3 comments:

Kim said...

What a great idea to polish the peg people first, I am going to do this the next time we make them. Thanks.

We have been making our own wood polish for a while, hubby discovered he liked my homemade body butter as a polish some time ago, so now I have to make him some when I make body butter :)

Thanks for sharing your recipe.

Becky said...

oh - such a cruel tease!!! :) though, after my fiasco, i'm ignoring my tutorials advice to skip the individual jars! sigh. hindsight.

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting the tutorial, I've been really interested in making my own wax recently. I spent a few months buying Liberon from uktoolcentre.co.uk, I still think it's the best around but my wife is bugging me to get self-sufficient and I've been looking for a recipe. Thanks!