dear peter,
after reading your recent article on wax, i though i’d give it a try on a dining room table i was just finishing. it’s oak, and has 3 coats of tongue oil sealer plus 3 or 4 coats of medium luster tongue oil. online i found some colored wax by mylands, and bought clear, mahogany, and black. making some tests on the underside of the table top i put down a layer of the mahogany and a layer of the black using an applicator made out of cotton jersey material. buffing it to a nice shine was no problem, but even 24 hours later if i rub it with a rag, more wax comes up, discoloring the rag. re-examining the can i notice it says don’t use colored wax on any piece of furniture that will come in contact with light colored clothing or cloth. (what kind of furniture won’t come in contact with clothing?) is this typical of colored waxes? is this why you say that the harder waxes are good for making your own colored waxes? i also tried putting down a coat of the clear wax as a sealer for the color (also as the can suggests) but to no avail. any advice would be appreciated.
-karl
Replies
Karl,
Out of curiosity was your finish well cured? If not that could be part of the problem.
If you don't remove the excess well enough prior to buffing it is possible to see it come up again on the rag.
Wax is a soft coating and heat can easily soften it. Body heat combined with light colored clothing can sometimes cause stains. For this reason if I were to wax a chair for instance, I would only use a clear wax that was high in carnauba.
A table is another story although less likely to occur, the possibility exists, thus the reason for the disclaimer.
Peter
thanks for your reply peter,the last coat of oil was applied about 2 1/2 weeks before the wax. if this wasn't long enough, can i just remove the wax with mineral spirits, wait until it has completely cured (another week? or start the 30 day period over again from the beginning?) and then go again?also, it is getting rather warm now (but cool and low humidity when i applied the oil) will that effect the application of wax to the same detrimental degree that it effects oil? should i wait for another cool dry day for waxing?thanks again,-karl
karl,
The wax can easily be removed with mineral spirits. What oil did you use? Some have a longer cure rate than others.
Another option is once it's cured to put on a thin coat of a varnish or shellac to seal the oil.
Shellac is very useful for this as it dries quickly and isolates the oil very well. I can hear the objections that shellac is not alcohol or heat proof etc.
If you use shellac, like Zinseer Seal Coat, just as a thin sealant and not a full finish you won't have a problem.
You can also do the same thing with a varnish; just use it as a thin barrier for the wax to stay on
This type of finish oil and wax is not as durable as a full film finish of varnish. As long as you are aware of it's limitations it's not a problem.
I have a number of tables with shellac and wax coatings. While they don't get the abuse a family kitchen table would get, we do use them for dinners etc. and they don't fall prey to the catastrophies you often read about.
Try whatever you decide on underneath the top as a test bed.
Keep me posted.
Peter
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