Wax finishes - preventing water staining marks etc.

[Davidadew]

I use Liberon wax finishes - both the paste (fine paste wax black bison clear / coloured) and beeswax. I apply several thin layers and buff to a shiny finish, enough layers to give a good finish - 2 or 3. Woods are oak / ash etc. and I apply without any base layer, just wax onto bare wood.

I find that with any water getting on beeswax finish leaves a white-ish stain which is difficult to remove and needs a bit more waxing which I can't do when I sell items.

So am using the paste more now and that seems better but leaves a little stain which I can just about wipe off with a cloth, although it sometimes takes a little of the wax off too.

I am very keen to use wax finishes because I use coloured waxes which work well with oak grain etc. and I can't use oils etc. due to what I make.

Is there any way to make the surface as water resistant as possible, and mark resistant etc.?

Some say liberon finishing liquid on top of wax may help - is this so - presumably a light application if so?

 

[Chris Knight]

Some say liberon finishing liquid on top of wax may help - is this so - presumably a light application if so?

I see no merit whatsoever in doing this. Wax will prevent the finishing oil from doing it's job properly. The normal things is to wax over finishing oil if the two things are desired.

If you want the hardest most resistant wax, you might like to try Carnauba wax. This is extremely hard and must be mixed with a solvent in order to apply it. I sometimes use a 50/50 Carnauba/Beeswax mix and even that is very hard. If you gently melt them in a tin in boiling water, you can mix in various colourings as required. I tend to use the earth colours like ochre, burnt umber etc.

 

[Alf]

It may be my imagination, but I've always found the Liberon waxes to be a bit on the soft side. Chestnut ones seem a lot tougher, if the buffing required is anything to go by, but unfortunately limited in colours iirc.

 

[cornucopia]

You dont say what it is your making but how about applying a microcystaline wax like rennnasince wax over the top of your wax finish- this should offer an invisible amount of protection while still maintaining that wax look.

 

[Harbo]

Why not try Sam Maloof's treatment?
First you apply a few coats of a mixture of oils and PU varnish then finish with a wax mix.
I used it on a kitchen table which has survived several years of abuse!
There's lots on the web about Sam's mixtures.

Rod

 

[CHJ]

I would go along with Georges (cornucopia) suggestion re' trying a microcrystalline wax finish coat, I've been trialing a version lately that seems to shed water well and does not 'watermark' as the beeswax blends do on their own.

 

[RogerS]

I would go along with Georges (cornucopia) suggestion re' trying a microcrystalline wax finish coat, I've been trialing a version lately that seems to shed water well and does not 'watermark' as the beeswax blends do on their own.

Chas...how's this going? Any recommendations as to make and does it make the oak go any darker?

There was another thread about this somewhere and JasonB suggested a travertine sealing finish called Idrostop iirc

Thanks

Roger

 

[CHJ]

Roger I have not used it on unsealed wood to date, will do so tomorrow just out of interest, but I would suspect that it will not add any colour cast other than that caused by wetting.

In the sample I have been trialing it results in a very thin film and I can't detect any colour cast from applying it over sealed or canauba wax finish.

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