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Home » How To Make Dark Wax For Furniture
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May 23, 2013 · 32 Comments

How To Make Dark Wax For Furniture

DIY

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Annie Sloan Wax can be EXPENSIVE!  Yes, I’m sure it has WONDERFUL results ( I haven’t used it so I can’t attest to it) but I have found a great alternative that worked perfectly for the Boys’ Room Furniture.

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First I cleaned the furniture really well and used scotchbrite to rough it up a tiny bit.  Then I applied my homemade chalk paint.  I decided to make my own dark wax.  I found this great video tutorial on how to tint wax here.

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So with paste wax and stain, I started my science experiment.

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I measured out about 1/2 pint of paste finishing wax into a jar and placed it in a pot of water to melt. I heated it on medium heat until it was completely melted.

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After it was completely melted, I mixed in about 1 tablespoon of the stain.
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Then I let it sit for about an hour and it hardened up nicely.

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Now, after applying a clear coat of wax on the drawers, I applied this tinted wax.

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Can you tell??  No??
I couldn’t either!!!
I was kind of bummed but I decided try to make the wax darker.
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I remelted that same wax and added black oil-based enamel to the melted wax.(Oil based is key.  I do not believe a water based paint will mix with the wax.)
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Now THIS is what I was going for.
I applied it generously to the drawers and then buffed it a bit WITHOUT applying clear wax first.  If you don’t want to stain the paint, apply clean wax first, if you want to stain the paint (like I did) don’t apply clear wax first.
Applying the dark wax was scary but once I realized that if I got too much on, it was relatively easy to buff it off with a heavy coat of clear wax.
It was a little uneven so I applied another coat of clear wax on top of it and smoothed it out.
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The above results are after being applied to a dark paint.  The results below are after being applied to a light gray paint.
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This wax has thrilled me.  I really love the results and I had both the paint and wax so it didn’t cost me a penny!!
You can check out the finished dresser here.
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Happy Crafting,

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Comments

  1. TheMoonAndMe says

    May 23, 2013 at 11:25 PM

    Looks great! Glad you are happy with how it turned out. Did you know that Minwax makes a dark paste wax? I had to find mine on Amazon because I couldn’t find it at lowe’s or home depot. But I thought I’d share that info. 🙂
    Kelly

    Reply
    • Fog says

      January 7, 2016 at 9:47 PM

      Thank you for that info!

      Reply
    • http://www./ says

      December 29, 2016 at 9:19 PM

      Lauren, I read every single comment and I am so sorry that I have not directly responded to yours but I have actually been keeping an eye out and promise to keep it on my list of future posts! Thanks for stopping by

      Reply
  2. Jamie says

    May 24, 2013 at 3:05 AM

    I really like how your dark wax turned out! I have used AS dark wax but wouldn’t mind using something a bit cheaper! Great tutorial on how to go about it. Thanks! ~ Jamie

    Reply
    • Marti says

      October 10, 2013 at 1:02 PM

      I made it by her instructions and it came out awesome!

      Reply
  3. Susan D says

    May 25, 2013 at 1:48 AM

    Holy cow I am so happy I saw this! I have my tin of Annie Sloan dark wax and the way I use it is to thin it out with paint thinner. It makes it like a glaze, but waxes at the same time so you save a step. It also dries much quicker than glaze or using stain and then still needing to wax. It does make the wax last longer, I have half a can left, but I wasn’t sure what I would do when I ran out. I am totally going to do this!
    Thank you!
    Susan
    SunflowerHugs

    Reply
  4. Shannah @ Just Us Four says

    May 25, 2013 at 2:15 AM

    This is awesome! I hope you shared this at the Pinworthy Projects Party this week because it is an awesome tip.

    Reply
  5. Dragonfly Treasure says

    May 25, 2013 at 2:40 PM

    Awesome! You are much braver than i! Good job.
    *hugs*deb

    Reply
  6. Manuela@A Cultivated Nest says

    May 26, 2013 at 7:36 PM

    What a great idea! I’d love it if you’d link this post to The Creative HomeAcre Blog Hop. I have lots of readers that use the Annie Sloan paint and I think they’d be interested in this.
    http://acultivatednest.com/2013/05/the-creative-homeacre-hop/

    Reply
  7. LittleMyoo says

    May 27, 2013 at 1:33 AM

    Just bookmarked this post…great tutorial!!!
    -andi

    Reply
  8. Cathy says

    May 27, 2013 at 5:27 AM

    Hopping over from Whipperberry.

    I would love for you to share and link up at my TGIF Link Party. The party is open every Thursday night and closes Wednesday’s at midnight.
    http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/
    Have a wonderful week!
    Hugs, Cathy

    Reply
  9. Scribbler says

    May 27, 2013 at 5:38 PM

    Aren’t you the enterprising one! I think I might have to try this. I bought some lime wax which gives a whitewash finish at a woodworking store, and it cost an arm and a leg for a little bitty tin. I don’t see why this wouldn’t work with clear wax and white paint, do you?

    Reply
  10. ritajoy says

    May 27, 2013 at 7:09 PM

    Thanks so much for sharing a DIY recipe for wax. I live in Canada and am finding it difficult to source out all the most frequently referred to waxes (and I’m cheep, too! ha!:)). I want to give this a try.

    Reply
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  11. Carrie @ My Favorite Finds says

    May 29, 2013 at 4:02 PM

    That’s awesome! What a great tip! Thanks for sharing at Pinworthy Projects.

    Reply
  12. Marti says

    October 10, 2013 at 1:01 PM

    I read your instructions for making my own wax for antiquing furniture I painted with chalk paint and it came out awesome thank you! I will make my own chalk paint as I have a lot of furniture to paint!!!! Love your blog! Marti

    Reply
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    November 11, 2013 at 5:15 PM

    Regards for sharing this amazing web-site.

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  15. SuzyQ says

    March 8, 2014 at 10:28 AM

    I’ve always wondered if paste wax shoe polish would work for this type of application. I’ve yet to try it. But there are a number of shades out there. and it is waxy. And it’s cheap.

    Reply
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  17. FauceLand says

    April 8, 2014 at 12:38 PM

    Hi there, just wanted to mention, I liked this post.

    It was helpful. Keep on posting!

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    May 29, 2014 at 10:50 PM

    Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems
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  19. Annie says

    January 9, 2015 at 12:01 AM

    First of all I just thought you might like to know – it took forever to see the post because “Free family games” on Womensforem.com kept popping up over your website. I had to keep closing and opening your website to finally see all of your post. I don’t know if you were being spammed or what. That being said – you did a great job on the dresser. Did you use the top of the cabinet for the top of the dresser?

    Reply
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    January 30, 2015 at 9:52 AM

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  21. Paula says

    July 7, 2015 at 11:15 PM

    Thanks for sharing your process for making dark wax. You are the first person I have found who has gone into such detail. I wish I’d known that oil based paint fact!

    Reply
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    October 7, 2015 at 8:14 PM

    I think that everything said was actually very reasonable.
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  23. Alex says

    December 5, 2015 at 9:42 PM

    Hi there…I’d just like to know what you used as an applicator….great tip…trying it tonight…thanks.

    Reply
  24. Teresa Lemoyne says

    April 8, 2016 at 12:42 PM

    Love this idea! I make my own also, but I use the Min-wax and Old English furniture oil-Dark. Works great!

    Reply
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  26. Tessa says

    October 28, 2018 at 9:11 AM

    Just wondering what type of paint you used, Flat, satin, semi gloss?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Chalk Paint and Paste Wax | Live Life. Create Dreams. says:
    May 4, 2015 at 4:21 AM

    […] I found what I was looking for at Saving  4 Six.  Carrie took on the experiment of tinting paste wax for a project.  The DIY tutorial can be found here. […]

    Reply
  2. Chalk Paint and Paste Wax | Chic by Angelique says:
    May 12, 2015 at 8:14 AM

    […] I found what I was looking for at Saving  4 Six.  Carrie took on the experiment of tinting paste wax for a project.  The DIY tutorial can be found here. […]

    Reply

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Welcome to Saving 4 Six! I'm Carrie, a wife and frugal mother of four. This is my soap box, where I share money saving ideas, tips, and projects. Stick around...I hope you'll be inspired to save too.

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