the Messages
The Carnauba is softened with paraffin or beeswax in all of the commercial paste waxes. The better waxes use Toluene as a solvent, and therefore less paraffine is require to soften the Carnauba. Less of the softer wax means more Carnauba, and a harder wax on the surface.
There is no warning on the cans that Toluene can damage some finished surfaces if they haven't had sufficient time for all of the solvents to evaporate before application of the wax. This can be a problem with all Oil and Varnish finishes. It can be a problem with shellac and nitrocellulose lacquers if they aren't given a few days before applying the wax. This isn't a problem on factory applied finishes on furniture because they a catalyzed finish.
Briwax is to be commended because they are the ONLY manufacturer of a paste wax with a Toluene solvent who warns us that it can damage the finish. For all of the others, it is a guseeing game because there is no listing of the solvents on their cans.
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Wax is one of those things where less is better. A thin coat of wax is better than a thick coat of wax. If it feels like wax, the coating is too thick.
It is easy to get that dry thin coat with Renaissance wax, while it is almost impossible to get a similar coat of Carnauba IN A HAND APPLICATION. The reason is that the Renaissance is a very small wax particle that is easilly carried in a volatile solvent so that it can be applied in a thin coat by hand. Carnauba is a very large wax particle that has to be diluted with a softer paraffine before a solvent can be added to make a paste than can be applied by hand. The result is a thicker and softer coating of wax on the surface with the Carnauba than with the Renaissance.
Done correctly with a minimum of wax, buffing is an the only way that a coat of PURE Carnauba can be applied. When this is done, we are comparing equals and there will be little apparent difference between the Carnauba and the Renaissance waxes.
Renaissance is acid-free (neutral pH), and that means it will be less likely to react with airborne contaminants that will destroy the wax. Renaissance should last longer than Carnauba, regardless how it was applied.
So take your pick. Buffing with Renaissance wax is a waste of time. Buffing with Carnauba isn't.
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I don't mean to write an article, but I hope I can answer the questions.
We are after a thin coat of wax that is polished to a high gloss. The thinner the coat, and the harder the wax, the higher the gloss and the longer it will last.
The finer particles of the Microcrystalline wax in the Renaissance allows this to be done with a hand application that is buffed with a cloth by hand. Buffing with a powered wheel does nothing that cannot be done by hand with a cloth.
Carnauba is a larger wax particle and the only way we can put a coat of pure Carnauba on the wood is with a power buffing wheel, or as a friction stick where heat melts the wax onto the wood.
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The "better way to do it" is to buff with White Diamond after sanding to the 2000 grit or with 12,000 Micro-Mesh, and before buffing on the coating of wax. The Bealle kits contain Tripoli, White Diamond, and pure Carnauba wax for a reason. Buffing a coat of wax on a sanded surface, regardless how fine the grit, will never have the same high gloss that comes from buffing the wax over a surface that has been buffed with White Diamond. The reason is the difference in the surface texture and the scratch pattern that is made by the different abrasives, and the light is reflected from them.
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The biggest problem people have with a buffing application of wax is using too much. This is truly a place where less is better, and almost nothing is the best. Holding the wax stick against the spinning wheel for 1-second, but not more than 2-seconds, is sufficient for most applications.
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Paste waxes are usually a Carnauba with a soft paraffin, and a solvent is added so it can be spread on a surface and polished to some degree of gloss by hand with a rag. The resulting wax coating is nowhere close to being as hard or with the same high gloss as a microcrystalline (Renaissance) or a pure Carnauba. Some of them will contain trace amounts of other waxes, and use different solvents,
Some paste waxes replace some or all of the paraffin with beeswax. There is no advantage to beeswax over paraffin other than it smells better, costs more, and sounds better than the wax our mothers used to seal jelly jars. Other than that, Beeswax has similar properties to paraffin.
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The degree of waterspotting is a function of the hardness of the wax, and the thickness of the wax. A pure Carnauba applied with a buffing wheel has better resistance to waterspotting that a paste wax that contains Carnauba and paraffin or beeswax because it is a harder wax. Renaissance will have a similar resistance to waterspotting because the microcrystallin wax has a similar hardness to the pure Carnauba. Montan wax will be damaged the least by water because it is harder, and paraffin the most easilly damaged because it a very soft wax. Beeswax is also very soft and easilly damaged by water.
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Johnsons and Trewax are about the same and are a Carnauba/paraffin mixture to make them easy to use. Neither are as hard, nor will they take as high a gloss, as the pure Carnauba applied with a buffing wheel. There is nothing wrong with using either of them, and they can be buffed to a reasonable gloss. Just don't expect more of them than they can deliver.
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Briwax is more resistant to waterspotting, and can be polished to a higher gloss, than either Johnson's or Trewax because it contains less paraffin and is therefore a harder wax. The downside is that the Toluene solvent that allows less paraffin to be used will damage some finishes. Applying the Briwax to an Oil or Varnish finish too soon can be a problem. Most of the others are OK, but the finish should always be checked in an inconspicuous place before using. That warning is on the Briwax can. The fact that Briwax uses beeswax rather than paraffin means nothing other than an advertising factor and they can put a little bee on the label.
High quality automotive finish waxes resist water spotting because they contain the harder Montan wax, or in the case of the modern automotive waxws, the resistance to spotting comes from the silicones that are added.
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Most furniture waxes contain an oil, usually nothing more than Mineral Oil, to give the surface that shiny "wet" appearance. Some advertise "lemon oil" but are nothing more than Mineral Oil with a scent and coloring added. Very few furniture polishes actually contain real lemon or other citrus oil.
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Have I missed anything? And everyone thinks that wax is a simple finish.
I will post more of these as I find them.
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