Thread: Saving Furniture From Landfill

Yes, an interesting story and a job well worthwhile. I see a lot of furniture put on the footpath in the large items rubbish collection times and much of it would be readily salvageable. I have neither the room nor the time myself, but I wish someone would do it. Here in Brisbane we do have a lot of gleaners who collect items, I don't know how they use or recycle them but good on them.

There are some problems with what she does though. Beeswax always stays sticky and attracts dirt. The 'polissoir' or polisher is simply a burnisher - a hard, smooth surface that when rubbed over the wax generates heat and helps to smooth and melt the wax into the timber pores. It will still be sticky to some extent. That burnishing has some similarities with the technique used with hard burnishing oil (HBO) but, with HBO the product creates a much more stable surface and seal.

If she wants to use a natural wax though, for environmental reasons, a much better wax would be Carnauba wax. It is a naturally occurring very hard and durable wax that forms the best part of most good furniture and car waxes but can also be purchased in its pure form. Because it is so hard a cake of it (have to make yourself by melting the flake form purchased on eBay) would be able to be rubbed hard and fast to create its own burnishing. Some woodturners use that while the item is spinning on the lathe.