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Three flexible recipes for all-natural beeswax wood polish. One is a simple two-ingredient food-safe recipe that you can use to give shine to wooden kitchen implements and dishes. The second is a natural beeswax furniture polish recipe that protects wood and gives a soft glow to tables, cabinets, and other wooden furniture. The last recipe is a traditional one that beekeepers make.
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Wooden furniture is the anchoring design theme throughout our home. We have a solid oak dining table and chairs, an oak sideboard, and other misc wooden pieces peppered throughout each room. I even have wood kitchen bowls, spoons, cutting boards, and ornaments I’ve picked up at various places. Wood is such a timeless and natural material, and modern composite furniture does not have the same soul and aesthetic. It does need extra care, though, especially with regular polishing. Polishing wood keeps pieces looking their best and protects them from the ravages of time and use.
Wood polish fulfills a few purposes, and the main ones are to condition the wood and stop it from cracking. It also helps waterproof the surface and gives a beautiful finish and shine. As you set plates on tables and use cutting boards, some of the polish comes off, and buffing wooden items up every six months or so is essential if you want it to last. While you can easily buy beeswax wood furniture polish, I never do. Decent stuff is usually expensive, and I need a lot to polish everything in the house. The good news is that homemade wood polish is simple and inexpensive to make. You also get to choose the ingredients you want to ensure that they’re allergen-free for your family and align with your ethos.
Wood Furniture Polish Ingredients
Two of the recipes below are pretty flexible with ingredients, and you can make them vegan if you wish or choose to use other long-lasting oils. I want to introduce you to the most common oils and waxes used in furniture polish so you can understand what they do. Another thing to consider when making homemade furniture polish is to choose liquid oils that last a long time. Many vegetable oils go rancid over time and can smell terrible – from a slightly musty scent to pungent oil paints.
Waxes
- Beeswax is a medium-hard wax created by bees that adds a protective, water-resistant coating to wood and a mellow glow. I harvest it from my own hives, but you can buy it easily enough. Keep in mind that it is vegetarian but not vegan. A vegan alternative would be candelilla wax, rice bran wax, or coconut wax. Paraffin wax is another idea, but it’s not a natural ingredient.
- Carnauba wax is a very hard palm tree wax with properties similar to beeswax in furniture polish recipes. It gives a hard, glossy shine to wood.
Oils for Wood Polish
- Mineral oil is prevalent in furniture polishes because it can condition wood very well, enhancing its color, and it doesn’t go rancid. Mineral oil is a by-product of the petroleum industry and is not a natural ingredient.
- Linseed oil, also called flaxseed oil, is a seed oil that deeply conditions wood with a beautiful satin finish. It dries very slowly, taking weeks even, which is why it’s often mixed with other ingredients. Boiled linseed oil is treated with air and drying agents so that it dries much quicker. This extra treatment means that it’s not a natural ingredient, though.
- Other nut and vegetable oils are typical in homemade beeswax furniture polish recipes. However, some can stain, and each type will have a different shelf-life, with some going rancid in under a year. Though olive oil is common and conditions wood well without staining, a better option is fractionated coconut oil or jojoba oil.
Other Ingredients Used in Wood Polish
- Turpentine, or turps, is an essential oil made by distilling pine tree resin. It’s a natural ingredient with a clean, woodsy scent, but its primary purpose is as a solvent to dissolve beeswax so that it can penetrate the wood grain. It is not a food-safe ingredient.
- Soap flakes polish wood without tinting the wood yellow or giving it any shine. It helps keep wood polish from discoloring and mattes down the finish.
- Essential oils are non-greasy, volatile plant chemicals mainly added to some recipes to scent the polish. Lavender oil is common, as is lemon oil, but also keep in mind that turpentine is also an essential oil. If turpentine is used in a recipe, it has its own scent that cannot be masked by other essential oils.
Beeswax Furniture Polish Instructions
Once you’ve sourced or made beeswax polish, how do you use it? The general technique is to use a clean cloth or paper towel to rub a small amount into the wood. Then, allow the polish to soak in for several minutes before taking another clean cloth or paper towel and using it to buff the surface to a shine in a circular motion.
Beeswax Furniture Polish Recipe
4 TBSP Beeswax pellets (35 g) or a vegan alternative
1 TBSP Linseed oil (15 g) or fractionated coconut oil
4 TBSP pure Turpentine (60 ml/50 g)
This medium-firm furniture polish gives a beautiful and durable glow to wood. It’s suitable for most wood furniture and woodwork and has a waxier feeling. Because it includes turpentine, it is not food-safe, and you should only use it for ornamental surfaces. To make it, melt the beeswax and oil together on moderate heat in an old stainless-steel pan using the double boiler method. When entirely melted, pour the turpentine in and stir well until the mixture liquefies again. Pour it into a metal tin or jar, and it will last indefinitely. This recipe makes a little more than 3.4 oz (100 ml) and can be scaled up to create more. Apply this product with a rag.
Food Safe Beeswax Wood Polish Recipe
1.5 TBSP Beeswax pellets (12 g) or a vegan alternative
1/3 cup Fractionated (liquid) coconut oil (75 ml/70 g) or olive oil
This creamy wood polish recipe includes only two ingredients and has a shelf life of up to three years. To make it, melt the beeswax and oil together in a pot using the double boiler method. When completely melted, stir and pour into a tin or jar. Allow to cool and harden. This high gloss wood polish recipe yields 3.4 oz (100 ml), and though you can use it as a general-purpose polish, but it’s especially safe for items used in food preparation or that children or pets might come into contact with. Wooden spoons, cutting boards, wooden toys, etc. It’s creamy enough that you can use your fingers to scoop it up and rub it in. This recipe is oilier than the others, and you’ll likely need to remove the excess polish with a paper towel before buffing.
Beekeeper’s Beeswax Furniture Polish Recipe
9 oz Beeswax (255 g)
2.4 cups pure Turpentine (568 ml)
1 oz Carnaunba wax (28 g)
My local beekeeping association shares this beeswax furniture polish recipe each year. It’s a much higher yield at about eight 3.4 oz (100 ml) jars, but you could easily scale it down if you want to make just a jar or two. This hard wax is best used for giving a medium-glossy sheen to wood furniture and should be applied with a rag. To make it, melt the waxes together in an old stainless-steel pan using the double boiler method. When fully melted, pour in the turpentine and stir until the mixture is completely liquid again. Pour into suitable containers, such as metal tins or glass jars.
More Natural Home Product DIYs
- How to make beeswax fire lighters
- Solid dish soap recipe (from scratch)
- Natural kitchen spray recipe
- How to make candles
