Is Beeswax Good For Furniture? 9 Pros And Cons

Getting furniture for your house isn’t only expensive, it can also be daunting. You need one that matches your house’s aesthetics; sometimes, you even need to customize it. Using beeswax is common advice that we hear from people, but is it good for furniture?

Beeswax is good for furniture because it’s a natural wax that protects and seals different wood types. It’s effortless to apply and allows you to give it a natural-looking shine. It also makes the furniture more durable by adding a layer of protection, especially for bare wood surfaces.

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However, it doesn’t mean that it will be great for any furniture that you have. We’ll cover everything that you need to know about beeswax before you start using it. By the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of what it can and cannot do for your furniture.

Table of Contents

What Is Beeswax and What Does It Do?

Beeswax is a natural wax that bees produce. There are several uses for beeswax, but one of the most common is wood finishing. It has been the go-to for people who want to have an additional layer of protection for their furniture.

By applying beeswax to furniture, you’re creating a second layer that allows the wood to keep dirt and moisture out. That’s why many are using it as a primary protective coat.

You can use beeswax as a protective layer for any wood type, but it produces better results with some wood types, including:

Beech
Mahogany
Oak

Pine
Teak
Walnut

These types have a high absorbent quality, allowing beeswax to penetrate through more layers of wood. However, it doesn’t mean that you can’t use it for others. In fact, you can use it for almost any wood, and it’ll still provide you with the same natural-looking finish.

Pros of Using Beeswax for Furniture

So, what made beeswax a popular option for many people? What can it do for your furniture that isn’t possible with other finishing coats? Let’s answer both questions by going through the advantages that you can get from using beeswax as a protective layer for your furniture.

Adds a Protective Layer

Furniture isn’t cheap, especially if you’re going for a particular theme or aesthetics. That’s why it’s crucial for you to always add a protective layer for its surface to keep dirt and moisture out. Over time, this makes your furniture more durable and longer-lasting than if you were to use it without a protective coat.

Natural-Looking Shine

This advantage is related to the previous pro—beeswax allows you to have a protective layer for your furniture while retaining its natural look. Wood doesn’t shine naturally; you need to add a coating to make it shine, but many coatings can’t provide the same protection that beeswax has. Some protective coatings can also make your furniture less appealing because it can’t retain the wood’s natural look.

Is Beeswax Good for Furniture? 9 Pros and Cons

Using beeswax for your furniture solves both of these because it’s a standalone coating. It creates a protective layer while retaining the wood’s beauty and providing it with the shine that makes it look more exquisite.

You can use beeswax on its own, or you can use it as a primary coat, then add another layer for better protection of your furniture. Both methods will look elegant and ensure that you provide it with much-needed protection to ensure it lasts longer.

Easy to Use

How many times have you tried to add protective coating for your furniture and felt overwhelmed with what you need to do?

Beeswax can make it much easier for you because you only need a piece of cloth to apply it. Wiping your furniture with a cloth that has beeswax should suffice as a protective layer. You don’t need to have the skills to balance out the strokes for the brush that you’re using, which is a common issue that you’ll experience, especially if you’re using varnish.

Provides Some Water and Scratch Resistance

Another factor that makes your furniture more durable is that beeswax provides some water and scratch resistance. Although it doesn’t make your wood 100% resistant to these, it still provides you with some protection. It’s a much better option than using the furniture with bare wood, especially those with high absorbent quality.

A word of caution: beeswax only makes your furniture slightly more resistant to water and scratch. It doesn’t mean that you can submerge it underwater or scratch it with sharp objects. What it does is give you a bit more time to deal with spillage or prevent accidental scratches from causing permanent damage to the wood.

Environment-Friendly

Beeswax is a natural compound that bees produce, so it’s a more environment-friendly solution to protecting your furniture. It doesn’t have the pungent smell that varnish or other coatings have. Aside from these, it’s also a much cheaper way to protect and make your furniture look fresh!

We don’t eat wood for breakfast—some might—but it’s still worth noting that beeswax is safe to ingest. That’s why many also use it as a coating for wooden bowls, chopping boards, and other wooden items that come into contact with food.

Cons of Using Beeswax for Furniture

Beeswax may be an excellent option for coating your furniture, but it’s far from being the perfect solution. There are other things that you may want to consider before you start using it. Below are some of the cons you’ll have to deal with if you decide to use beeswax for your furniture.

Frequent Reapplication

There’s no doubt that beeswax can make furniture look nicer after you apply it. However, it loses its shine over time. You’ll need frequent reapplication to retain its elegance and keep its protective quality.

When using beeswax as a protective layer, a rule of thumb is to reapply once a year to keep its natural-looking shine. However, it also leads to another problem: the build-up of coatings on the furniture.

Reapplication Build-Up

During the first few years of using beeswax as a finishing coating, your furniture looks nice and fresh. All you have to do is to reapply it once a year to retain its elegance. However, as these coats build-up, your furniture will start to look dull and drub, making it less ideal to use as a coat.

Although there are some steps that you can do to remove these layers from your furniture, it won’t be easy. Plus, it even adds more hassle to the frequent reapplication you need to go through at least once a year.

Hard to Remove on Surfaces

One reason beeswax makes an excellent protective coating is that it can penetrate through different wood layers. It’s a quality that you won’t get from other coatings. However, if the time comes that you want to remove it for a reapplication, it’ll be more challenging because it’s penetrated deep into the wood. You’d need to exert more effort in the long-run to keep your furniture looking fresh and shiny if you were to use beeswax.

Not As Durable As Other Finishing Options

Finally, beeswax isn’t as durable as other finishes like polyurethane. Beeswax may offer some water and scratch resistance, but it’s not as effective as other options you’ll find in the market. It also doesn’t last long and is prone to heat damage.

So even if there are a lot of advantages that you can get from using beeswax for furniture, you may still want to consider its durability, especially the condition of the environment where you’ll place it. It can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of beeswax when it comes to protection and finishing.

Conclusion

Beeswax is a natural coating that became a go-to for many people who want to preserve their furniture. There are several advantages that you can get from it, particularly with protecting and making it look more exquisite than bare wood.

Unfortunately, it’s not the best option for everyone. Wood types that we use for furniture affect the effectiveness of beeswax. Aside from this, it also requires a bit more maintenance than other finishing options, making it less ideal for many people.

Sources

Homestead How-To: How to Make and Use Beeswax Furniture Polish