Which Wax Polish Should I Use on Antique Furniture?
Mark Finney of Finney’s Wood Finishes in Derbyshire gives his expert advice on which wax polish is best suited to antique furniture.
Mark informed The Unique Seat Company, “A big area of confusion regarding antique furniture is which wax to use. Everyone’s heard of Beeswax, but is this the best?
Wax polishes fall into two categories, those for bare woods and those for sealed woods, individual formulations producing more or less shine depending on the ingredients used. For example, waxes containing Carnauba increases sheen whereas Beeswax on its own is excellent for dry, untreated wooden surfaces. Wax polishes suitable for bare wood may also be applied to old oiled finishes or previously waxed surfaces.
What is sealed wood?
Sealed wood is where a surface coating, such as French polish, lacquer or varnish has been previously applied to the surface making the wood less porous.
So which wax to use?
There are loads of proprietary brands but a manufacturer will usually have one of the two above specific markets in mind when making up their recipe. I always recommend our Microcrystalline wax polishes for sealed wood rather than recipes containing Beeswax as these produce less wax build up with lower potential for finger marking.
Waxes may also be coloured with pigment – so if you’re working with a dark wood, use a darker wax polish. Waxes formulated for bare wood are usually available in a range of shades known as staining waxes; waxes purely designed for sealed wood might only be available in white or antique, i.e., clear or brown”.
For more information you can contact Finney’s on:
01246 261664
[email protected]
www.finneyswoodfinishes.co.uk