Save Money on Furniture Wax

There are two things I absolutely love about specialty brand waxes like the ones carried CeCe Caldwell’s, Annie Sloan & Miss Mustard Seed – how they are as smooth as butter to apply and the richness of color they give to paint.

There are also two things I don’t love about those specialty brands – there are no local suppliers for me, so I have to order every can (and pay shipping) …and the price of a can the wax itself.  There’s just no getting around it; specialty wax is expensive.

There is one thing I like about paste wax, (like Minwax) and two things I don’t like.
I like the price.  One can of Minwax costs about 1/3 of the price of the specialty brands and I can find it in any home improvement store, so I don’t need to pay shipping either.  That’s a huge savings.

What I don’t like – the texture and ease of application.  Paste wax is accurately named because the wax is thicker than specialty wax, so it doesn’t go on as easily as the specialty brands.  The other thing about paste wax is the finish.  Specialty brands give you a depth of color that paste wax doesn’t achieve as beautifully.  Paste wax has a good finish, just not as rich.  So, what’s a thrifty-minded DIYer to do?
Tinker with it!

I decided to do some experimenting to see if I could improve the finished look & ease of use/texture of the paste wax finish.  I grabbed a can of wood stain (Minwax Pecan Gloss) and added a little to some wax and mixed it together well.  It didn’t seem to change the color much, so I added a few drops more of Minwax Golden Oak.

I painted 3 swatches of homemade chalk-style paint onto a board and applied the darkened paste wax version on the left, regular paste wax in the center and CeCe Caldwell’s wax on the right.

 After allowing them to dry and buffing them, here are the results.  As you can see the CeCe Caldwell (on the right), gives such a great finish – very rich and smooth.  The paste wax (untinkered with) in the center gives a good finish, but there’s little depth of color or richness to it.  It’ll protect your furniture, but it doesn’t give that classic finish I love.  But, my tinkered with version of the paste wax…I LOVE it!   It has nearly the same rich beauty that the CeCe Caldwell’s has, and I can make it myself in seconds for a fraction of the price!

I wanted to see the difference my tinkered with wax would make on some really old chippy wood, so I did a side by side comparison on this chippy old board.  You can see how it really deepened the color of the paint and the wood where the paint has chipped off.  I’m sold!

I’ve never used any specialty brand antique waxes – only the regular wax, but I love the finishes I’ve seen others achieve with them, so I plan to buy some really dark wood stain and attempt to get a similar finish.  I’ll let you know the results when I try it.

I hope this helps some of you who need to find a more economical way to wax and finish your wood projects.  Don’t worry if you can’t use warmed and softened paste wax – just add the stain to it and mix it really well.  Adding the liquid stain to the paste thins the paste and makes it much smoother, so you’ll get the same result.

***I should note that there is one other difference between paste wax and specialty waxes.  Paste wax has harmful chemicals, which the specialty waxes don’t have.  I use the paste wax in a well-ventilated room or outdoors, so it isn’t a big concern to me and I really don’t think Minwax paste wax has a strong odor, but if it is an issue for you, you’ll want to bite the bullet and spend the money for the more expensive waxes.

If you missed my previous post about creating your own chalk style paint, which will save you a bunch of cash, you can view it HERE.

Blessings,

Angie