How to use beeswax furniture polish

1'Charge’ a small pad of ‘0000’ steel wire wool with some beeswax polish

2Apply the polish sparingly, directly to the surface, with a little pressure in the direction of the grain (do not dab it on)

3Wait 20 to 30 minutes for the polish to dry and buff to a soft sheen in the direction of the grain.

I would also recommend only applying it to manageable areas at any one time. For example the side of a chest of drawers, or one chair at a time. It makes the whole experience more rewarding.

I also highly recommend using an open weave, pure cotton cloth to buff the polish as it helps prevent any smearing and buffs the wax to a lovely sheen. 

Our polish is very, very rich in natural hard waxes. The combination of waxes I used to make Gilboys Gold is not diluted in any way. And because so much wax was transferred to the surface in the first application it needs time to harden. If you apply a second wax too quickly you may well end up softening the first layer you put on, resulting in an uneven soft finish.

Let it harden.

This is a really good example of how our dark 'antique gold' polish can work well on a light coloured wood. I rescued this Smokers Bow from my parents neighbours garden in 1994. I repaired it at the time, and more recently waxed it, many times over with our antique gold polish. As you can see, it is very light in its colour and now it has a beautiful natural golden glow achieved by 5 or 6 applications of our antique gold.

If you have an old Windsor chair or kitchen chair from the Victorian era then give our antique gold polishing kit a try.

I think you'll be surprised...

Gilboys Gold beeswax furniture polish can be used on just about all wood finishes.
We created it to enhance traditionally finished furniture.
It will protect and enhance many finishes including:

• Linseed Oil
• Tung Oil
• Shellac
• Hard Wax Oil
• Old & New Varnished Finishes
• Previously Waxed Finishes

The only exception is wax polishing modern high gloss and satin finishes which is where I would recommend following the original manufacturer's guidelines.

High gloss dining tables don't really need wax polishing.  Applying our wax polish to such a finish will be very difficult. Our wax is very rich in its content and will not spread evenly over such a high gloss finish.

Yes. I developed the polish to work over traditionally finished furniture.

*Trade Tip*
If you are using Gilboys over a newly finished french polished finish; I would recommend leaving a gap as long as possible between finishing off the rubber and applying Gilboys polish. - In the workshop we wait a few weeks, if possible, right up to a few days before we deliver the piece.

Yes you can, but to be honest I would rather you used a hard wax oil to treat your kitchen worktops. It will stand up to the hard abrasive wear much better.

Yes, the pure turpentine will soon be absorbed or evaporate and leave a natural wax finish.

I would advise against it because of the pure pine turpentine.

Using Gilboys polish on your furniture will help prolong the life of the finish. When used on period antique furniture it will enhance the patinated finish at the same as as protecting it.

It’s time saving... our beeswax polish is so much more rich in its content than other wax polishes that just one application will last much longer than the wet chemical based polishes that are so cheaply made. It is one of the main reasons why we developed Gilboys Gold in our furniture restoration workshop. 

Yes. Using a good beeswax polish on forged metal work is very much recognised as a traditional method of enhancing and protecting it.

In the images below you can see me applying our antique gold to an old cast iron door knocker. I also use a trimmed paint brush to apply our polish to heavily carved relief on period furniture. You can use a soft shoe brush to buff it as well as a soft cloth. 

I wouldn't use it on period cabinet-ware, in fact I would recommend removing handles from period furniture before waxing the woodwork, but only if you have the time and you are confident doing so.

My top tip for removing handles from chests of drawers is… Don’t throw them all together in a container, you’ll regret it. Using low tack masking tape, secure the removed handle to the back of the same drawer (including the pommels and securing nuts). Do this immediately after removing them. This way when you are ready to reinstate them you have the exact same handle that came off going straight back on. It will save you a huge amount of time!

YES. Most certainly. Veneer or solid wood, it makes no difference. Some of the most beautiful and valuable furniture in the world is made from a combination of veneer and solid wood. I created Gilboys Gold wax polishes to enhance and protect the natural beauty of traditionally finished furniture. Be it veneered or solid wood. It will protect the finish in just the same way.

This is a big question... A finish can appear patchy for a few reasons: 
As mentioned above, for the long term build up of spray liquid polishes. If really bad then use this method:

• With a bowl of warm soapy water, (washing up liquid is fine) immerse the cloth in the solution and wring it out. 
• Concentrate on cleaning small areas at a time and immediately dry the area with a dry soft cloth (old soft towelling we have found works best).
• To ensure that the furniture is completely dry, leave it for a day before wax polishing. 

If the surface is patchy and dull in places but you haven't used any spray polish on it, the surface may appear blotch or patchy because of a number of reasons or a combination of them. I’ll try to explain in more detail:

The finish has degraded, broken down, dried out and is flaking away (‘letting go’). You might not have immediately realised this as it is a gradual process.

I have seen this problem many times on furniture that has been finished with a coloured spray lacquer. Examples of mass produced furniture makers that I have seen this problem on are Ercol, Old Charm, and Priory. It does also very much depend on the environment they have been kept in.

It is not really associated with furniture over 100 years old.

This problem is normally associated with cellulose (nitrocellulose) lacquer finishes which was applied to mass produced furniture from the 1900’s onwards.

• Remedy
  
  On dark coloured furniture; Using our antique gold polish will help disguise the exposed lighter areas and go help prevent further deterioration of the finish.  
  
  On light coloured woods that have a broken finish I would recommend using our pure gold polish but be aware; where the polish is applied over the broken areas it will appear matt and where it is applied over the intact finished areas it will appear to enhance giving a sheen. In effect potentially highlighting the broken, missing areas.
  
  Note* If you were to use a coloured wax on a lighter broken finish such as rose gold or antique gold, the colour in the wax will stain the open, bare wood areas which may be darker than you would like. Repeated applications of wax over time will start to create a layer of polish in the missing areas but it will not be a long term solution as the original finish will still flake away leaving further patches. The best solution is to strip the old finish off and refinish. 
  
  In the videos below I walk you through this process step-by-step:

• Sunlight / UV damage:
  
  Surfaces that suffer long-term exposure to sunlight will often break down faster. This may lead to the surface coating losing its sheen and protective properties. In addition the wood itself will more than likely be bleached of colour.
  
  Using a coloured polish such as rose gold or antique gold will in many cases work very well at reviving the finish and go in some way to restoring the colour. Please be aware this is not a guaranteed way of fixing this problem. How effective Gilboys Gold polish will be at restoring the finish will come down to how ‘broken down’ the finish is on your piece of furniture. If the surface is still intact, the wax may well help nourish the dry finish but it may not revive the colour.  This will be because the surface coating is hard and impenetrable, preventing the colour from getting through the coating. I always recommend giving this method a go, because if it works, you have saved yourself the costs of a professional restoration - which can be quite high. Also, if it doesn't work, you now know that stripping and refinishing is your only other option. You will not have wasted your money as you can use the polish on your other items of furniture. 

No. Using a wax polish to change the colour of your finished furniture will not work very well. *(unless it is sun faded).

If you want to change the colour of your furniture you really need to strip it back to the bare wood and colour the wood using a stain first. Don’t use a stain sealer all-in-one solution. You get a much better finish by staining the wood properly and then sealing it. All-in-one finishes cheat this process and in effect you are applying a semi opaque finish blocking out the grain and the whole reason you are refinishing it.