If you have been waiting to buy some Soft Wax 2.0, Katherine has just put up a big batch for sale in her etsy store.
For the photo above, Bean made his second-ever trip to our machine room (hence the unflattering lighting on his magnificent fur coat). He was so interested in all the new smells in that building that this was the only photo Katherine was able to snap.
Notes on the finish: This is the finish I use on my chairs. Katherine cooks it up here in the machine room using a waterless process. She then packages it in a tough glass jar with a metal screw-top lid. She applies her hand-designed label to each lid, boxes up the jars and ships them in a durable cardboard mailer. The money she makes from wax helps her make ends meet at college. Instructions for the wax are below.
Instructions for Soft Wax 2.0
Soft Wax 2.0 is a safe finish for bare wood that is incredibly easy to apply and imparts a beautiful low luster to the wood.
The finish is made by cooking raw, organic linseed oil (from the flax plant) and combining it with cosmetics-grade beeswax and a small amount of a citrus-based solvent. The result is that this finish can be applied without special safety equipment, such as a respirator. The only safety caution is to dry the rags out flat you used to apply before throwing them away. (All linseed oil generates heat as it cures, and there is a small but real chance of the rags catching fire if they are bunched up while wet.)
Soft Wax 2.0 is an ideal finish for pieces that will be touched a lot, such as chairs, turned objects and spoons. The finish does not build a film, so the wood feels like wood – not plastic. Because of this, the wax does not provide a strong barrier against water or alcohol. If you use it on countertops or a kitchen table, you will need to touch it up every once in a while. Simply add a little more Soft Wax to a deteriorated finish and the repair is done – no stripping or additional chemicals needed.
Soft Wax 2.0 is not intended to be used over a film finish (such as lacquer, shellac or varnish). It is best used on bare wood. However, you can apply it over a porous finish, such as milk paint.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS (VERY IMPORTANT): Applying Soft Wax 2.0 is so easy if you follow the simple instructions. On bare wood, apply a thin coat of soft wax using a rag, applicator pad, 3M gray pad or steel wool. Allow the finish to soak in about 15 minutes. Then, with a clean rag or towel, wipe the entire surface until it feels dry. Do not leave any excess finish on the surface. If you do leave some behind, the wood will get gummy and sticky.
The finish will be dry enough to use in a couple hours. After a couple weeks, the oil will be fully cured. After that, you can add a second coat (or not). A second coat will add more sheen and a little more protection to the wood.
Soft Wax 2.0 is made in small batches in Kentucky using a waterless process. Each glass jar contains 8 oz. of soft wax, enough for at least two chairs.
Got it! My thanks to the Anarchist’s Daughter.
Could you please acknowledge in your Soft Wax 2.0 posts that:-
1) this product is not available outside the USA; and
2) each batch of it sells out instantly.
I don’t have much disposable money in my life, but such is my admiration & respect for your output, Chris, that I am literally quite desperate to support the Anarchist’s Daughter. Yet, by the time the email notification of your blog post hits my email account, the latest batch is all gone. Every time, And, even if it hadn’t, this product doesn’t ship to the UK anyway. 🙁.
I make my own soft wax at home, with wax from my own bees’ hives, so buying it from Katherine will be way more expensive for me than is needed. Indeed it would be way more expensive than buying it from a commercial producer here in the UK, what with shipping & import duties – yet still I want to buy some in order to put money in the pocket of a young woman I will likely never know or even meet. Young people are so worth supporting – they have so much from which we older adults could learn. A young woman cut from this father’s stock even more so.
And yet I can’t.
Please acknowledge this for those of us outside the US who are all similarly placed.
The whole world is not North America and North America is not the whole world.