Waxing Chalk Painted Furniture

So you finally took the plunge and painted your furniture like thousands of other people in an attempt to update some old pieces you have and prevent buying new ones. After all, it is much cheaper than buying all new furniture. Plus… you can customize it to your liking to make sure it is exactly what you want. Now what? Well in order to ensure your new paint finish stays fresh and looking good, you’ll need to seal your furniture to protect that new finish you just worked so hard on.

There are several types of sealers you can choose from. You can choose to seal with a polyacrylic, water-based sealer like Dixie Belle’s Clear Coat found here. You can choose to seal in a polyurethane (in oil or water-based formulas) for more durable finishes. Or, you can choose to seal in wax for a more artistic finish.

Wax is a great sealant for pieces that are more artistic in nature or pieces that will not be used as heavily. Waxes do cure hard in 30 days and people have been known to use them on items like cabinets that receive heavy use and it holds up just fine. I like to use wax for a couple of reasons.

1. Wax is great if you want a nice soft, buttery feel to your furniture. No other sealant will give you this but wax.
2. Wax is great to use to accent details on a piece or to add depth and dimension to an otherwise flat surface.
3. Wax is a beautiful finish that can be flat or have a high sheen based on the amount of buffing you do.

When using wax to accent details or add depth and dimension, you’ll want to use your dark or black wax. Before applying dark waxes, however, you’ll first want to completely seal the whole piece with clear wax. This does two things. One, it seals the whole piece. Two, it allows you to have more control over your dark wax when you apply it. You see, chalk paint is very porous in nature. That means that not only is it dry but it also has tiny little holes in the surface of it (think of the moon). Imagine a rock countertop vs a smooth solid surface countertop. Chalk paint is like the rock (or moon) with tiny holes in the surface. If you were to apply dark wax right over top of your chalk paint, it would soak it up like the desert soaks up yearly rain. Which isn’t a problem unless you get too much in one area, or it’s darker than you like, or it looks blotchy and uneven to you.

So how do you prevent this? Well, you have to seal the whole piece first in clear wax. Once you’ve done this, you can add your dark or black wax without worrying about it. If you apply dark wax over clear wax and decide it’s too dark or you don’t like it in that area, you can simply wipe back with a clean cloth to remove some of it. If you still don’t like it, go over the dark wax with your clear wax again. It acts as an eraser to remove the unwanted dark wax. That’s it.

So now that you now how to use it, you just have to decide what piece to use it on. I suggest pieces with high and low areas from detail so the dark wax can sit in the low areas and really draw attention to them. Or… use it on an otherwise flat and boring place to add a little dimension.

Here’s a little video on how to wax your painted furniture.

Thanks for joining me today to read and watch my video. Be sure to like and share.