How to Make Automotive Wax

How to make Wax

Today bee’s wax is sometimes used in Automobile waxes but normally it is most used in furniture wax and polishes. You can make your own wax very easily, my ancestors did on the plantation on Cape Cod, it is a relatively simple process and fun too.

First you need a couple of pots to boil in and a pot of hot water. Liquid Beeswax furniture polish is simple, use one quarter cup of ivory soap, one quarter pound of beeswax, 1 cup of turpentine and half a cup of water. Dissolve the soap in hot water, put the shaved wax into the turpentine and then slowly melt together, then pour the soap mixture into the mix and stir with a wooden spoon, once well stirred pour it into a glass jar and you have it, very easy. Bees wax cream furniture polish which can also be used on cars with lessened amount of turpentine is made by using and mixing quarter lb of beeswax, 2 cups of turpentine, quarter cup of liquid Ivory soap, 1 cup of warm to boiling water and quarter cup of pine oil. The only difference it you have to make sure all the beeswax is dissolved first and cool then mix it into the warm soapy water until it congeals and then reheat together and dissolve. If you reduce the turpentine content you can use it on your car too. It goes on smooth and it works good.

Although, I am partial to Carnauba wax for cars for it’s ease of use, but from a realistic standpoint of protection the carnauba only lasts three months while the beeswax melt might last slightly longer. For solid beeswax furniture polish, which is preferred by the antique dealers we met on the back roads of NH, VT and Maine, all you do is use equal amounts of linseed oil, beeswax and turpentine. The finished product is golden brown and see through and looks rich in content. Now you have lemon oil smell in furniture polish, which can easily be added to the boiling water during the process.

There are many good waxes to use on cars that you would not put on surfboards, furniture or statues. Wax is found in the human ear also. There are two different types and your genetics dictate which one you have. Most plants have a thin protective coating of wax also. Most fruit and citrus trees and vegetables plants have wax on the fruit, leaves and vegetables they produce that we eat. Many animals and even some fish also organically produce waxes. Other wax components are found in minerals and petroleum products and distillates.

There are Polymer or synthetic, manufactured by man into various types of waxes. We get waxes from a variety of sources really. The Carnauba we discussed is a preferred wax by many detailers. Carnauba wax is on the leaves of the carnauba palm trees. The best Carnauba wax comes from in my opinion the Palm Trees of Brazil. You can tell a good carnauba wax by the water beads up as you see when you detail your car. Candelilla wax comes from a plant that grows in parts of Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala and sometimes in the southwestern United States. It is a brown wax and not only have people used it on cars it is used in phonograph records, floor dressings, and candles. Although it is the major component of candle wax, it is mixed in with other waxes normally in the candles we use in our homes.

Indonesia Outdoor Furniture by Lance Winslow