Make your own liming wax

Finding liming wax is not easy. There are only a few select suppliers that stock liming wax and the stuff is pretty darn expensive. Now, you know me... always try something once, blah, blah. Anyway, I came up with the idea to mix paint and antique wax together to see what would happen!

 

I always have a tin of antique wax on handy and I mixed some white acrylic paint into the wax. You really need to mix it in well, and it helps if the wax is soft so let it sit in the sun for half and hour before you mix the wax and paint together. How much paint to add is up to you. Obviously the more paint the more intense the effect. Some experimenting on scrap wood is a good idea.

Once you have mixed wax and paint together, use a soft cloth to spread this over your project. You need to work in small sections, as the mix is absorbed quickly and you need to spread and rub in fast. And always work with the grain if you want a consistent finish.

Here is a piece of pine that was treated with the wax/paint mix, and the pine on top shows the difference. I only added a small amount of paint to the wax, so you can see what a difference it makes. I tried rubbing it off to see how well it is absorbed into the wood, and it didn't rub off.

The next test was to stain a piece of wood and then apply the paint wax over the top. Now you can really see how it adds the limed effect - without the lime of course!

If you need to tone down the whiteness, use fine steel wool and mineral turpentine - rubbing with the grain - to wipe away the excess with a rag. I'm really impressed... it worked very well and I would recommend this method to anyone who wants to apply a limed-effect to furniture.