I Waxed My Bench But Not Happy With Results

Hi all,

Yesterday I waxed a bench seat with U-Beaut Traditional Wax (Neutral) and used a Swansdown mop on a drill to buff it, but I must have done something wrong because the finish isn't shiny but rather dull and kind of wet looking. It's also slightly sticky in some places. You can only notice this when looking at it from an angle with the light in front of you but still, it's pretty obvious from those angles. The wood used was Hoop Pine T&G.

Me being me, I'm sure I did something wrong. On the can of wax it says to sand, which I did, then apply a coat of Shellac, which I DID NOT, (because I didn't have any and didn't think it was necessary), waited about 20-30 minutes and then buffed with the Swansdown mop on my drill.

So, my first question is, did I do something obviously wrong? Is the application of the Shellac a vital step in this process? And the next question is, how can I rectify this? Will a light sanding and then reapply be an option? The bench is in a room with a piano and the bench is very heavy so I don't want to have to move it outside to do any heavy sanding if at all possible.

Hopefully someone can tell me what I did wrong or what I haven't done that needs to be done.

Thanks.

Steve

the shellac would have sealed the timber and given the wax a base. On raw timber you will need to apply several coats of wax until it starts to look good. The first couple of coats will just soak in.

You dont need to leave it dry. Just rub it on then buff it off. then do it again until the finish is the way you want it.

Cheers,

Dan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by daninjt

the shellac would have sealed the timber and given the wax a base. On raw timber you will need to apply several coats of wax until it starts to look good. The first couple of coats will just soak in.

You dont need to leave it dry. Just rub it on then buff it off. then do it again until the finish is the way you want it.

Cheers,

Dan

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Thanks, Dan. So how long should I leave it before applying more coats? Do I need to buff after each coat or just wait a while for it to soak in and then apply another coat?
Do I need to sand with a very fine grade paper between coats?

Thanks again.

Steve

The wax is not sitting on top of the wood, rather it is soaking in, so there is no need to sand between coats.

It is the heat generated by buffing that gives the shine, there is no point in waiting for it to dry before buffing. I think the instructions that come with the wax say you don't need to wait before buffing. i think they also say you don't need to use max, a little bit goes a long way.

Cheers,

Dan

Over a good shellac finish, I have found it takes 3-4 coats of wax to bring up a really good shine. On raw timber ... well, I haven't done it but suspect it will take several coats.

Apply, buff, repeat.

Have also found it helpful to think about it like shining shoes. A slightly damp cotton rag, a little polish, rub in, buff off, repeat until you're done.

Tex

Thanks guys. I'll get on it tomorrow and see how it comes up with several coats of wax.

Dan, the instructions on the container do say to allow it to dry for 10 mins before buffing but I did find that it felt dry almost immediately. I guess that was because I didn't apply the shellac and the wax soaked into the wood staight away.

Steve

read this.
http://www.ubeaut.com.au/trad.html

buy and read this
http://www.ubeaut.com.au/book.html

all your questions will be answered and you will be giving the answerers to others in no time!

Good luck.

The amount of shine you should expect to get is alsop dependant upon the amount of sanding you did and the type of timber used especially if you're working on raw timber rather than sealed timber.

The dullness could also relate to the heat of the day and the state of the wax if the wax was kept in a hot shed then it's also possible that you were just a little wax and a fair amount of solvent as the wax may have melted and the solvent leached out along with some of the softer wax and was sitting on the top of the tub. This could account for it soaking into the timber and getting some shiny patches as they may be where you actually picked up some of the good wax from beneath the weaker stuff on the top.

If the wax was a good solid white colour and not a soft and semi transparent then it was most likely the good stuff.

If you sand to 120 grit you won't get much of a shine if you sand to 240grit you will get a semi satin if you sant to 320 satin to soft glow 400 and above semi to full gloss, 1200 bloody beautiful. However this will also be dependant upon the type of timber to a slight degree. the harder the timber and the closer the grain, the better the final finish will be.

Application. Apply a thin even coat wait around 10 minutes or until it feels dry to a light touch then buff either by hand or with youyr buff. No need to have the buff running flat out. Then buff with a clean soft rag turning occasionally to remove any excess wax. If the finish drags when you lightly rub your hand across it then there is still wax on the surface that needs to be removed.

Wait until the surface is cool and apply a second even coat and follow the same instructions as above. Third, and subsequent coats can be done in the same fashion until you have the desired finish.

The whole thing is much easier if a base coat of shellac or sanding sealer is applied first, as this gives you a base to build the wax finish upon. Starting with raw timber will mean an extra couple of wax coats are needed to give you a base .

The secret to a good waxed finish as with all finishes is to put in a bit of time on the sanding preparation. Like I said above the higher you sand the better the finish will be.

If your wax is really soft on the top and semi transparent, rather than a solid off white then you may need to give it a really good stir up to combine the ingredients again. or follow the directions in third paragraph of this post

Hope this is of some help.

Cheers - Neil :U

Thanks for the links, Steve. I'll have a good read of them.

Neil, thanks for the explanation. I think I just need to apply more coats of wax. I'll do that and if it doesn't come up nicely, I'll get back to the forum for some more advice. At this stage I do expect more coats will fix it.

Thanks everyone.

Steve