Bees buzzing from the clover which speckles your lawn and an infusion from the leaves of a Brazilian palm tree mix to create a wax which makes your own kitchen cabinetry shine. Organic household products are equally good for the environment and also for protecting wood. Restore the uniform shade and glow to kitchen cupboards with a cheap, sweet-smelling homemade wax which fans to your dazzle as it nurtures the wood.
Two Is far better Than One
Mixing waxes makes you an alchemist, and the result is pure gold to your cupboards. Carnauba — from the leaves of the carnauba palm tree which rises in northeastern Brazil — is the toughest wax. Its high melting temperature makes it tough and durable but quite difficult to employ. Once you buff that, however, carnauba gleams like polished glass. Beeswax is a byproduct of honey creation which has a low melting point but is relatively tough, will restore and seal wood, and is combined with the harder carnauba wax to make it less brittle.
Soft, Liquid Polish
Polish that’s fluid or super-soft is easily implemented using a clean cloth. Melt approximately 4 ounces of beeswax and 2 tablespoons of carnauba wax in a double boiler or microwave. Observe a few precautions to stay safe and make cleanup a breeze. First, keep an eye on the microwaved waxes so that they do not ignite. Secondly, melting the waxes in a glass canning jar in a pan of warm water above the heating element of your stove saves a messy cleaning job from the double boiler. It is possible to store the shine from the glass jar safely; only let the liquid cool before mixing in 2 1/2 cups of odorless mineral spirits to maintain the mix soft. Room-temperature shine is applied with a clean cloth, allowed to dry, and then buffed with a second clean cloth.
Creamier, Fragrant Polish
For sweet-smelling, creamier wax, substitute for a food-grade oil to the solvent. Melt 1 1/2 ounces of coconut oil, 2 1/2 oz of jojoba oil or cold-pressed olive oil, 1 oz of beeswax and one ounce of carnauba wax in a double boiler over medium heat. Once the mix is liquified, remove it from the heat supply and carefully hand-mix in 4 ounces of distilled water. This creamy wax will continue from 6 months to approximately a year.
Hard Wax Polish
Cook up a solid polish by melting 3.5 oz of carnauba wax using 10.6 oz of beeswax; subsequently add approximately 13.5 ounces of turpentine or odorless mineral spirits. Because the mix cools, it should solidify, though it may not harden completely. It may be a little imprecise with measurements so long as the rough proportions of the ingredients are maintained. Adding more carnauba wax produces the polish harder, but constantly experiment with a small number to avoid creating a wax which becomes too brittle and is challenging to work with.
Works on Paint, Wood or Stain
Your homemade wax works to seal and protect unfinished wood, stained cabinets or even a painted finish. The wax consumes the daily dings, scrapes and scratches that would compromise the cupboard surfaces. So airborne grease particles, dust and dirt will not discolor your minimalist bare wood, darken stain or degrade a careful chalk paint or milk paint finish. Hand-buffing the end provides you a high luster as a result of accession of the carnauba wax. Cover the entire cupboard surface, but do not glop about the wax or paste. An excessive amount of wax only makes more work for you and also will not result in a smooth, professional-looking, lacquer-like veneer.
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