waxed pine

[marcros]

A friend has given me a call to ask about a piece of furniture she has bought from eBay. I havent seen it.

She says that it is waxed in an antique colour, she likes the colour, but it is quite "dull". I presume that it is pine, and she has asked me whether I have anything that will make it shiny.

My first thoughts were to put microcrystalline wax and buff to a shine, but I am now wondering whether the creator had just waxed the piece with no sealer on it.

Would it cause an issue if i gave her some shellac sanding sealer (or diluted blonde shellac polish) on top of the current wax, denib, and then the microcrystalline on top of that. Putting more and more wax on it as it is will be a short lived solution wont it?

 

[Terry Smart]

If the item is already waxed then about the only thing you can put on top of it is more wax; the sealer is unlikely to take unless the surface is stripped back.

Putting Microcrystalline Wax or even our WoodWax 22 on it will bring up a good shine and even if it goes dull after a while a buff up with a soft cloth should bring back a shine without always having to apply more wax. Depending on use and wear another coat of wax every so often will be required, either wax should be fine, WoodWax 22 is slightly easier to get on with in a furniture situation in my opinion.

 

[marcros]

thank you Terry, points noted. I have a tin of microcrystalline, hence why i was going to use that one.

As an aside, I thoughts that shellac was able to go over everything?

 

[Terry Smart]

Wax is a pretty good 'non-stick' surface and (in relative terms) soft so it wouldn't be advisable.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

As Terry said you cannot put anything on top of wax but wax. If the piece has been waxed onto unsealed timber and has now gone dull it will have hardend off so will take more wax on top very well. If it has been waxed with a coloured wax like Fiddes supreme you might want to be a little careful as the solvent in the fresh wax may soften the original wax and shift the colour around giving a streaky or blotchy finish.