Newbie seeking advice with wax polishing issue on wood chest of drawers
Hello folks,
I hope I can get some advice on how to solve the mess I have made of the wax finish on my chest of drawers.
Please see the attached photo.
I have tried to touch up some slight chip / scratch marks on the surface of the existing wax finish, by adding more wax and rubbing it in, but instead what has happened is that it has stripped the wax off completely in the patches I have used it on, and made a proper mess of it.
Can anyone advise why this has happened please, and what is the best way to go about fixing it?
(The drawers came with 2 tubs of Fiddes and Sons Supreme Wax Polish. One light and one stripped pine.)
Replies
Is wax the only finish on this piece? Wax is extremely fragile. It offers almost no protection.
Wax comes dissolved in a solvent. The solvent varies depending on the brand. But if you put fresh wax on top of old, the solvent is going to melt the previous wax. If it melts and you keep rubbing, you'll rub it right off.
And if the previous wax was tinted much darker than the wood underneath, rubbing it off will expose the light wood. This is what appears to be the case on your piece.
If the piece is only waxed I will assume a colored wax like a BriWax:
https://www.amazon.com/Briwax-Darkbrown-Furniture-Cleans-Polishes/dp/B000PT191U/ref=asc_df_B000PT191U/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=193152739170&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13121692400889875624&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031490&hvtargid=pla-307352101666&psc=1
The question is which color of course. At this point the good news is that if you can verify what was originally used and it hasn't been a decade or so you can probably blend in a match.
Are you able to verify the original product?
Thanks for the replies. The piece does seem to be finished in wax only.
When it was delivered, it came with 2 tubs of wax. I have to assume that these match what is on the item, but unfortunately the company have now ceased trading, so I can't confirm with them. If I remember correctly the guy said that one was for polishing and the other was for repairs and patching up. But as I found yesterday it doesn't seem to be that easy.
I'm testing out the darker polish on untreated wood behind one of the drawers, to see if it will build up to be the same colour as what is already on the item. If it is, I'm guessing I will need to sand off atleast one of the two planks on the top, if not the whole thing on top, and then build the wax back up again. I don't think it will be possible to do just a patch of the one plank as I won't be able to get the new to blend in with the old. As you've said the new solvent is stripping the old wax off.
This is the stripped pine wax it came with: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CFBPAV6/ref=dp_cerb_1 The other one is light.
A challenge to be sure. Circle back and let us know how it works out. Your info may save someone some trouble in the future.
Yeah, the biggest challenge is that I'm so inexperienced in this particular field, especially working with such fragile and quite expensive materials. Wax, and the only more expensive item of furniture Ive ever owned.
It shouldn't be too difficult to remove wax and start again, but I don't want to **** things up more than I already have. The wood itself deliberately has a bit of a rough, unfinished look, so even that is causing me some concern, that sanding it could ruin that look.
What might be alternatives to sanding? A solvent and rub the existing wax off with elbow grease? Seeing how easily I accidentally rubbed those patches off in the pic that could be the way to go. Does anyone have any ideas please?
If you can't get a coloured wax on to the patches with a good match to the rest, you will have to use a wax remover to take it back to bare wood. There are many such removers but be careful to use one that isn't a general stripper of not just wax but varnish, french polish and paint since such vigorous stuff can alter the character of the wood or even damage it.
Don't let sandpaper or any other wood removing agent near it if you want to retain the current quality of the surface.
The milder wax removers will just dissolve the wax, which you then take up with something like fine steel wool. This shouldn't scratch the wood in any noticeable way but will rub off the wax and retain it and the remover in the wool. The remover should leave no significant residue that will affect subsequent finishing. Such removal is a tedious process with a big surface, mind.
I would never use a coloured wax as the only source of colour since it's too fragile by itself to retain an even colour if the wax gets rubbed away by something. (And it will). Better to dye the wood if you want it coloured, then wax on top if only a wax finish is required. I like Liberon spirit dyes for their fairly natural wood colours (and lack of grain-raising). Their wax remover and steel wool are quite good too - made for use specifically with wooden furniture so don't damage the wood.
Lataxe
Many thanks for that Lataxe, plenty to think about there.
The problem about trying to add wax to the patches is that trying to do that is was has caused the problem in the first place. From what I've seen so far I agree that the wax alone is not a practical long term solution. You can't even add new wax to it without stripping it all off.
I'll look into your suggestions.
Thanks again.
As John_C2 mentions, wax comes in a solvent, which solvent evaporates away after you apply the wax. It will tend to temporarily dissolve the wax already on the piece when you apply a new coat - especially if you apply too much in one area, which you may have done in the attempt to get more colour on. But it's a little surprising that the colour of the newly-applied wax won't blend to some degree with the surrounding stuff if the colours are the same.
Personally I do use coloured wax on something that already has the colour involved as part of it's own natural colour; or is dye/stain coloured first. The Liberon reddish-coloured waxes I tend to use (there are many others just as good) work fine with orangey/red timbers like yew or cherry, for example. But then again - so does a "neutral" or uncoloured wax. The natural colour of the wood doesn't alter with either.
Patinating waxes can be more effective at adding colour. I use black patinating wax on mahogany sometimes; and have made a bit of limed-oak stuff in the past. The amount of dye in these is much greater than with the ordinary coloured waxes; they're really intended for open grain woods, which hang on to the deeper black of white pigmented wax more than do smoother timbers.
I have a friend who likes to use coloured waxes on his mostly pine furniture. I confess to being a bit critical about this - not so much because he gets patches when reapplying the wax (I'm not sure he ever does rewax) but because the colours he applies often look "wrong" on the pine or redwood. Many timbers don't really look "right" if their natural colour is changed away from what they themselves will grow to be like. Pine, for example, goes yellow so doesn't look right with a dark brown or an orangey colour applied. ....
Or so I feel myself. Tastes are different and therefore all legitimate.
*******
Other timbers seem to take changes in colour without problem. Ash, for example, is coloured every colour under the sun and always seems to look alright - even if it's black, blue or purple! Oak can look good dyed mid or dark brown - although it doesn't ever look good to me any other colour, despite being not that different to ash in grain "look".
In general, though, I'm wary of overdone finishing techniques involving lots of coats, lots of different goos and lots of different "looks". They often look unreal to my eye - almost like cartoons, with a plasticky sheen of over-popped grain in queer colours. A single coat of clear wax can often look good, especially as it's rewaxed when dusty over the years and forms a patina (wax, dust and elbow-grease). It's not very protective, though.
Another matter of only taste perhaps. Maybe "matters of taste" in furniture styles and finishes might make another good thread?
Lataxe
I have a different take on what has caused the light patches. I believe the chest was stained before being waxed. This appears to be pine that was stained using a oil based gel stain, the gel stain when wiped will be retained in the rough spots and leave only a light tint on the smooth surfaces, especially on pine and maple. Sanding grit is what is used to control the final color, we used to finish sand to 100 grit to get the desired color on maple, anything finer would be too light.
There is no easy cure to bring back uniformity to the top of the chest, but if the wax came off so easily, I would wipe the entire top with turpentine (mask the edges), sand with a block using 120 and 150 grit sandpaper and apply a gel stain that matches.
Thanks guys. I'm really not sure what to think now though. I cant tell if the item was stained first or not, but the finish certainly comes off extremely easily. I know that much. Surely it's not supposed to be like that. It's not that the colour of the new wax won't blend in with the old, it's that when I apply new wax, all the old comes off on the cloth, even going soft and gentle at it. This is what is causing the bare patches.
Reading in between the lines of what has been said on here, it seems to me that I've bought an item that has not been finished properly. It's just had wax applied to it to improve it's appearance (at least to my eyes) but not been finished with any properly durable surface which one would expect. This might well be part of the reason why the company have gone bust. If they just botch things up to look good. And then the surface literally wipes off, first time anyone tries to re-wax it. indigo-living.com They seem to be cowboys.
I need to have a think about what I'm going to to do about the piece. I think I might contact a specialist and get him round for his advice / quote to put it right.
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Thanks guys. I'm really not sure what to think now though. I cant tell if the item was stained first or not, but the finish certainly comes off extremely easily. I know that much. Surely it's not supposed to be like that. It's not that the colour of the new wax won't blend in with the old, it's that when I apply new wax, all the old comes off on the cloth, even going soft and gentle at it. This is what is causing the bare patches.
Reading in between the lines of what has been said on here, it seems to me that I've bought an item that has not been finished properly. It's just had wax applied to it to improve it's appearance (at least to my eyes) but not been finished with any properly durable surface which one would expect. This might well be part of the reason why the company have gone bust. If they just botch things up to look good. And then the surface literally wipes off, first time anyone tries to re-wax it. indigo-living.com They seem to be cowboys.
I need to have a think about what I'm going to to do about the piece. I think I might contact a specialist and get him round for his advice / quote to put it right.
Looking at the composition of the Fiddes &Sons wax one understands the problem, as mentioned before the solvent in the wax could have diluted the coating and stain if there were stain used. The material data sheet indicates that up to 80% and no less than 70% of the product is made of a solvent to which they add a small amount of wax (undisclosed). So basically they sell you mostly solvent which you could buy $20 per gallon , spice it up with color and wax and a nice packaging and sell it for a high price. This is common practice. When I use wax, I buy a solid piece of either beeswax or Carnauba and add a few drops of turpentine to it to soften so it can transfer to a rag and polish to a bright sheen.
Thanks Gulfstar. That's an incredibly high amount of solvent and I now understand what is causing the problem. Now I need to figure out a way to blend those patches back in.
Your picture shows a nice piece of commercial made furniture. I’m going out on a limb here and guessing your original problem was a water stain so take this with a grain of salt. To take a water stain out of a polished surface you can take an iron (if you even have one haha) and let it warm up to say medium then hold it above the water stain for a few seconds until it resolves. This may still work on your problem by letting the wax soften and resettle. It won’t harm the parts that aren’t discolored as long as you don’t overdo it. I know it doesn’t sound as high tech as some of the other replies but you never know.
You could try placing a scoop of Fiddes wax on a surface and leave it to air dry until most of the solvent evaporates and try again with the thickened mixture working your way from the light spots to eventually blend the color over the full top.
Many thanks Gulfstar, that's a great idea. I will try that.
Thanks user 7555134. I thought it was nice, it was a long time before I found something I liked and could get round to upgrading my chest of drawers. Picture below of item in full. It was just a couple of very small scratches in the finish on top that I was trying to fill. There is a much bigger one that can be seen on the 2nd drawer down, and where I tried there to do the same thing and add more wax to it, some of the wax sheen rubbed off there too. But not as bad as on top. It doesn't really show much in the light on the pic, with full strong sun beaming behind the curtains, the light was bad for taking the pic.
I will try your suggestion with the heat too, another very good idea. Definitely worth a try. Really not keen on taking drastic (and possibly unnecessary measures like removing all the finish off the top) at this stage.
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