Briwax on Kitchen Cabinets

Briwax is an excellent choice for cleaning up kitchen cabinets. The inherent solvent in Briwax will clean off the grease and the wax will fill in the scratches and leave a wonderful beeswax film on the cabinets themselves.

The photo below shows two cabinets that the manufacturer gave us 15 years ago. We let one of the cabinet doors alone, we did nothing to it, and the other we waxed with Briwax Light Brown. As air dulls the finish (oxidation) of one door, the other door with the Briwax seal prevents the oxygen from reaching the finish and dulling it. The Briwax finish will oxidize (the beeswax will dull) in a few years but a simple buffing with a clean cloth will restore its lustre.

Sheen, No Sheen, You Decide

Most of the time, people are looking for a sheen for their furniture.  Recently, we have had several people ask us how to decrease the sheen on their furniture!  Decreasing the sheen has a very easy solution . . . simple apply Briwax in the color of choice and don’t buff.  As we’ve said previously, you’ll know when Briwax is dry because it turns dull.

Even if you decide not to buff out Briwax, it is still important to apply the wax in light applications.

Remember, even after you buff your Briwax finish, a wax finish will always be a softer sheen than using a poly or plastic finish.

Briwax Can Be Used On Ceramics

An unglazed ceramic piece can be given a new look by waxing the piece with Briwax. Is the piece dull and you would like more sheen? Want to create an aged look? Look at these ceramic pumpkins in the picture below. All of the pumpkins looked dull, like the one in the foreground. The pumpkins in the group were waxed with Golden Oak Briwax - check out their sheen and enhanced color -- they almost look real!!

How to Achieve a Sheen Using Briwax

If you looked at a cross-section of your wood after it has been sanded, under a microscope, the top surface would look much like this:

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

The pores of the wood look much like "peaks" and "valleys". You cannot see this with the human eye after sanding with 180 grit. In order to achieve a sheen with Briwax, you must first fill the pores or the "valleys" with Briwax.

On soft woods, such as pine, the pores of the wood are large. Generally three or four applications of Briwax are necessary to completely fill the pores and develop a beautiful hand rubbed luster on raw pine. Pine wood that has already been stained or finished will develop a sheen more quickly.

On hard woods -- maple, oak, birch, etc. -- the pores are quite small. The hand rubbed luster can easily be achieved with one or two applications of Briwax.

Remember these key elements in applying Briwax:

1. Use Briwax sparingly -- a little goes a long way
2. Always buff after each application of Briwax
3. If the wax smudges, you've used too much Briwax.