Can You Use Beeswax to Seal Wood?


Having the best finish for your wood can be hectic. Beeswax has been taken to provide a natural look to any wood. As a result of this, Beeswax has become an amazing option in ensuring that you maintain the natural look of your wood.

Beeswax will not only maintain the natural look of your wood, but it will as well go a long way in ensuring that you get a long-lasting service due to high durability.

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Additionally, Beeswax gives the wood a form of an antique look in a good way rather than having your wood seeming to be recently made.

Let’s have a deeper look at the use of Beeswax in sealing wood?

Is Beeswax Good for Wood Furniture?

Yes, Beeswax is good for wood furniture. The main reason as to why Beeswax is good for furniture is the fact that it is a natural product which is essential both for your home and for your health without having negative effects on your family and your furniture.

By the fact that a product is made for cleaning and polishing your wood furniture, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the product is perfect for use with your wood furniture. Of course, you don’t need to add any chemicals that are harmful to your wood surface.

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In addition to this, other chemicals meant for being wood finish and polish could affect your respiratory system through the air effects. Having products that are of high quality as the finish of your wood furniture is essential both to your home and your health.

In the modern age, people are turning to the use of Beeswax as a natural finish and polish for wood furniture. Beeswax will provide your wood furniture with the most natural look finish in the furniture industry.

It will give your wood its true beauty that is fully natural. In addition, it comes with a rich, glossy coating to cover your furniture surface. The finish ensures that whenever you touch the surface of the furniture, instead of having to distort the beauty of the furniture, a silky-smooth feeling is left.

Below are some of the reasons Beeswax is good for furniture;

A Natural Finish

One of the most important things making Beeswax good for furniture compared to most of the other finishes is the fact that it is a natural finish, unlike most finishes and varnishes.

It does not come with chemicals such as resin, which could be harmful to your furniture and your personal health, as is the case of most of the other finishes.

Beeswax being used in the furniture will reduce pollution, especially on air pollution, among many other effects faced by the use of other furniture finishes. Therefore, being a natural finish is evident enough that Beeswax is good for wood furniture.

A Shiny Finish

One of the general and the basic advantage of making Beeswax good for furniture is that it provides a shiny finish on your furniture. This finish ensures that your furniture gets its real beauty without losing any whatsoever.

It transforms the dry, dry, and surfaces damaged by the sun to have a naturally smooth finish and surface. This, as a result, makes your furniture to be attractive on the eye. This is in comparison to other varnish made from resin, which leads to the hard and dry wood finish.

High Durability

Unlike most of the resin finishes, beeswax finish and sealant have high durability on your wood.

Beeswax contains high-carbon paraffin, which protects and seals the wood surface from sunlight and moisture. This, therefore, increases the durability of your furniture without getting destroyed from the extreme condition.

It works better than a varnish could do, considering that it penetrates the wood surface far much better than varnish. 

Though Beeswax will require more often reapplying compared to other varnishes, or oil surfaces, it will last for longer periods in the wood hence providing the necessary protection required.

When used on top of another type of finish, Beeswax becomes the most effective, increasing its durability.

Budget Friendly

Beeswax being a natural finish, it is highly available. In addition to this, it is a Do-It-Yourself wood product in making the finish for your furniture. This goes a long way in saving you much cost and expense you would incur in obtaining a manufactured varnish.

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You can do it any time and wherever you need it as long as you retain the skill as well as having the interest of doing it.

This, in addition, will assure you of quality as you are responsible for the mixture you use in making your beeswax finish.

Safe to Health

One of the major threats posed by the use of wood finish products is on the chemicals they use. Beeswax, being a natural product, is fully safe for your health with no chemicals.

As a matter of fact, it is used for human consumption and hence can be used on any type of furniture to be used by any age of human. You can use it in sealing wooden kids’ toys without any health hazards being posed to your kids.

Is Beeswax Waterproof on Wood?

As you may need to seal the wood with Beeswax, is really Beeswax waterproof on wood? The answer is Yes, Beeswax will waterproof on wood to some point after which it will wear out.

Due to this, there is a high need of keeping the reapplication of the Beeswax on the wood to ensure the coat is maintained on your furniture.

Normally, Beeswax penetrates the grain of the wood and then smoothens out to the surface of the wood. As a result of this, it makes the wood surface shine, satin, or to be a matte.

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To ensure that the Beeswax becomes fully waterproof on the surface of the wood, you will need to use 100% beeswax without additives together with a wood finishing oil. You can consider using a wood finishing oil such as Tung Oil or Linseed Oil.

Furthermore, the wood finishing oil used should also be 100% oil in which it should be a drying oil. Lastly, you may require to have a thinner such as turpentine, paint thinner, mineral spirits, or Naptha, which will ensure that Beeswax is easily absorbed in the grains of the wood to make the wood waterproof.

Beeswax will last as long as there are no forces wearing it out. It is not typically a wood sealer as it is more of a wood coating rather than a sealer. Nevertheless, with the use of the wood finishing oil and thinners, you will have it provide maximum waterproofing to your wood.

Does Wax Seal Wood?

Generally speaking, wax does not seal the wood to a great extent. Rather, wax acts more like a wood coating through which it increases the durability of the wood.

Normally, unlike sealers, wax can wear away easily, or rather it can be cleaned off. As a result of this, to ensure that wax seals the wood, it requires to be recoated periodically due to any abrasion, wear, or dissolving that would be done by a cleaner on the wax.

The main difference between wax and sealers is that sealers contain solids suspended inside the wood, and they are thinned by the use of solvents hence making the sealer become resistant to moisture as well as other effects.

A wood sealer penetrates the wood grain deeper than wax in which wax mainly remains on the surface of the wood. As a result of this, wood sealers would provide extra protection.

Nevertheless, it is a great idea to implement the use of wax as long as you combine it with other materials such as wood finishing oil that are natural together with the use of thinners. With this, therefore, the wax will now be able to seal wood perfectly, such as Beeswax.

How Long Does Beeswax Take to Dry on Wood?

The time taken by Beeswax to dry on wood is dependent on the amount of Beeswax you apply on wood. Nevertheless, Beeswax takes about 3 to 4 hours to dry before you can be ready to reapply another coat if you may wish to do so.

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The time taken by Beeswax to dry on wood will as well be dependent on the air temperature on the room you place your wood on for drying. Where the air temperature is high, it will take less time and vice versa.

However, it is recommendable to dry Beeswax on wood from the room temperature rather than having it direct on sunshine. Likewise, the time taken may differ with the relative humidity where you place your wood to dry after applying Beeswax. Avoid dumpy areas as this might affect the time taken and the effectiveness of drying the Beeswax.

After Beeswax has dried on wood, you should ensure that you buff the Beeswax off through the use of a dry cloth. This is to ensure that it gives your wood a dull yellow leathery finish hence improving the look of your wood.

How Do You Make Beeswax Finish on Wood?

The amazing thing you will love is that you can make beeswax finish on wood on your own in the comfort of your home. Making beeswax finish on the wood is an easy and quick method you will love.

As a matter of fact, you will just need 20 minutes of your time to have your full beeswax sealant and finish ready. First, ensure that you have all the necessary recipes ready to ensure that you don’t spend much of your time finding the recipes and materials you need.

Beeswax Finish Preparation Recipe

To ensure that you prepare your beeswax finish to seal wood perfectly, you will require to have several materials for a DIY preparation.

Below are some of the materials and supplies you will need before you start the preparation for the Beeswax to seal wood;

  • Beeswax – Consider using small beeswax pellets over the big brick since the small pellets for beeswax melt much quicker compared to those of big brick. You can find Beeswax from any nearest health food store or from online markets such as Amazon.
  • Olive Oil – Personally, I love using the organic whole foods brands through which I prefer olive oil for this case. However, you can try another type of natural oil, such as Linseed or Tung Oil. Purchase Affordable yet high-quality Olive Oil here
  • A saucepan or a pot that is medium-sized
  • Knife/GraterThis will be essential if you are using the big brick beeswax rather than the beeswax pellets.

How to Make Beeswax Finish

With all the materials ready for use in the preparation of the Beeswax, you can then proceed in preparing your beeswax finish. I believe that using a slightly higher proportion of Beeswax more than other recipes would ensure that this finish provides better protection of the wood.

  • To begin with, start with 1 part of Beeswax together with 3 parts of olive oil. Therefore, if it is just 1 cup of the beeswax finish, you will use Beeswax on a ¼ the whole mixture while olive oil takes the rest of ¾.
  • If you went for the large beeswax brick rather than the beeswax pellets, you would have to cut them into smaller pieces. Use a knife or even a cheese grater. However, using a knife will make it faster.
  • Ensure that the beeswax pieces cut is small to ensure that they take less time for preparations when melting the shavings.
  • After the beeswax shavings are ready, add them into a measuring container for you to melt them.
  • On melting the Beeswax, you need to be cautious, especially if you are using a microwave to boil them. This is so as Beeswax might catch fire hence the need for being cautious. To be cautious, you can consider monitoring the progress on short periods while stirring the Beeswax.
  • Alternatively, you can consider using a double boiler method by placing the measuring container on a larger pot. After this, you can then add water halfway the larger pot and then heat. With this, you will avoid any combustion on your Beeswax.
  • After you have the melted Beeswax ready, you will be ready to mix the Beeswax with olive oil.
  • Ensure to maintain the proportion of 1 part of Beeswax into 3 parts of olive oil and then stir thoroughly. Adding olive oil might solidify the mixture a little. You can dip the mixture into the hot water on the large pot to liquefy it further.
  • Having done the above, you then have the beeswax finish ready. If you love, you can add in some thinners such as turpentine. However, this is not mandatory, and you can skip it easily.
  • Put the beeswax finish on a storage container or even leave it on the measuring cup if you don’t need to store some.
  • The beeswax finish is now ready to be used for sealing your wood.

To see more, find further explanation with pictures here

What Does Beeswax do on wood?

Beeswax is known to provide an amazing finish for your wood. Normally, Beeswax is normally inert and doesn’t do anything on your wood. Rather, Beeswax will ensure that your wood retains its natural look for a long period of time.

Beeswax is mainly used for the protection of the finish of the wood. It gives you an amazing experience in its use as it is easy to reapply and replace without any need to have a professional to apply it.

As a matter of fact, Beeswax will bring out the true beauty of the wood. This is through the formation of the glossy and rich coating on the wood. Furthermore, Beeswax will leave a silky-smooth feeling on the wood hence making it look more attractive.

Final Words

Beeswax has been an amazing wood finish, which is likely to be your next consideration for your wood. There are several strong reasons as to why Beeswax is essential and necessary in preserving your woodworks.

Maintenance of the natural finish and look for your wood is essential on every wood. As a matter of fact, everyone is looking forth to having their wood grains and texture remaining fully original.

With this, Beeswax becomes the best solution in having your wood retaining its natural look without any effects on them.

Consider using Beeswax in sealing your wood from the simple instructions provided, which assures you of the best experience.

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