DIY Beeswax Leather Furniture Polish
Leather, of course, comes from a once living animal. Just like our skin, it can dry out, crack, tear and have damage based on how its taken care of. You can use a waterproofing spray to delay the inevitable degrade of leather that happens through vicious cycles of wet / dry, cold / hot, etc. But eventually, your furniture, boots, purses or what have you is going to need some love.
Make your own leather polish & conditioner
If you want to take care of your leather aging leather furniture, or better yet you really love your leather shoes, wallets, purses, and boots - especially if you have a problem with boots... then you'll need a good, organic, home-made waterproofing and leather balm to help maintain your leather goods to last a lifetime.
Tools
- Measuring spoons
- Tins or cups for your polish
- Pyrex measuring cup
- Small pot
- Small aluminum pie plate (optional)
- Wooden spoon
Ingredients:
- Beeswax - solid
- Mineral Oil or Castor Oil
- Coconut Butter
- Olive Oil or Sweet Almond Oil
Step 1
Setup is really easy. Flatten the small pie tin and punch holes into it (if you opt to do this). This allows bubbles to pass through it and it keeps your preparation from burning (the pyrex sitting directly on the pan bottom could cause burning). Next, fill the pot so that the water just cover the pie tin by 1/4 of an inch. Then set your Pyrex cup on top of the tin.
Image: The Modern DIY Life
Ratios. Ingredients are broken down into three categories; solid, semi-solid and liquid. The ratio of each depends on the consistency of polish you are trying to create. A safe mixture ratio would be 2-1/2-1/2 liquid to solid and semi-solid respectively, however you can change it up depending on your application.
If you want a softer polish (say for furniture), you can increase 3-1/2-1/2 or even as much as 4-1/2-1/2 however, I wouldn't go much softer than that. The more beeswax / butter means a firmer mixture, while more oil means softer. It's your choice really...
Step 2
NOW, Add the beeswax and coconut butter. If you need a measurement to start with you can use a one-to-one ratio such as: 1/4 cup of beeswax and 1/4 cup of coconut butter.
Keep stirring then slowly add your almond oil or olive oil (1/4 cup). It will cool the mix causing lumps so add it slowly allowing the mixture to re-melt. When it's fully blended, you can start adding the mineral oil (1/4 cup). It's a thicker oil, so you'll need to really blend it.
Image: homefarmer.co.uk
You'll need to keep the heat on your preparation for another 5 minutes or so. Make sure that is DOES NOT BOIL. If you see some steam rising from the mixture, you'll want to reduce the heat and continue to stir. If you think too much steam has gathered on the outside or top of the Pyrex cup, just wipe it off and keep going.
Pouring Your Mixture
Get your tins or cups ready by removing the lids and lining them up. Pour mixture directly from the Pyrex cup into your tins, filling them just below the lip of the container. You may want to find plastic cups or creative containers at your local craft store or dollar store.
Image: homefarmer.co.uk
That's it!
Now, just let the mixture cool down. This concoction will work on a variety of materials and is very long lasting. This is actually the base mixture for common things you use, like lip balm, oiled canvas, waxed leather and more. It really boils down (no pun intended) to the ratios inside your mixture.
Experiment. Have fun. Save Money. And if you need to clean your leather furniture first, then visit this post: How to care for leather furniture.
Just look how this boot cleans up with a little home-made beeswax leather polish.
Image: instructables.com