Thread: DIY conservator wax recipe

At the three o’clock mark in this YouTube clip, there’s reference too a guy in Canada who makes Conversation wax finishes, hope that leads you to your answer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTde83f01-4&feature=youtu.be

Cheers Matt.

I have seen the video in the past but it is for a beeswax finish.

Good for process.

Not a fan of beeswax most of the time for furniture or tools. Fingers Print.

I found the MSDS for the product

https://conservationsuppliesaus.com....ssance-Wax.pdf

It says that its 80% mineral turpentine as the solvent -

Then <20% micro-crystalline

And some % of Polyethylene wax.

Now this Polyethylene wax is more of a challenge to track down but what I can see it definitely makes sense why they would add it to the recipe

It is linear, low molecular weight polyethylenewax. It acts as rheology modifier, film forming and oil thickening agent. It has low melt viscosity, totally linear backbone, low molecular weight and hydrophobic. It is easy to formulate. It has improved stick stability, efficient oil structure, SPF enhancement, uniform pay-out, provides matte appearance and light feels on skin. It forms comfortable and flexible film with improved oil phase stability and water resistance. It is used in creams, lotions, hair waxes, sticks, facial scrub and sunscreens.

This is were having a chemist would be helpful.

Hi Thumbsucker,
as a retired paint chemist I have some experience using PE waxes in industry where we did melt them and slowly add them to either solvents or emulsify them into water with soap like emulsification additives to finish up with either paste like products or low viscosity water based dispersion's. Main use was for lubrication aids in several industries. I have also used them in industrial paint formulations as a slip or mar resistance additive but in such cases usually less than 1%.
You can source some of these PE waxes locally often from companies that supply candle making products. You would need to be very careful in experimenting with this "Home Brew" as you will need to melt the PE Wax at reasonably high temps preferably in a jacketed semi-enclosed vessel than slowly add it with careful slow speed mechanical stirring to a pre-warmed solvent and slowly cool down to finish up with a paste. I would suggest using "Orange Oil" as the solvent rather than mineral turps. This is also readily available locally and I have used it to make a finishing oil based on Tung Oil/Orange oil with about 5% beeswax added. If you still want to use a petroleum solvent also be aware that often what is sold retail as mineral turps can be poor quality with lower aromatic content so best to try with pure gum turpentine (artists use this) . As I said this is not something that is easy to do in a safe manner at home so do take care.
Cheers,
Paintman

Hi Paintman

Most helpful.

Okay how does this look to you as a recipe:

WARNING - I suck at maths mixing volume and weights but ----

80% gum turpentine = 1000ml
19% micro-crystalline = 190gm
1% Polyethylene wax = 10gm

Some questions:

What temp for the solvent would you recommend for PE Wax?

When you say a jacketed semi-enclosed vessel are you taking about a double boiler setup? Or a vacuum vessel?

What is the PH of Orange oil/Limonene? As I am looking for something that is neutral as possible as I plan to use this on steel as well as wood.

I think doing it outside on a piece of concrete using an electric hot plate would be the way to go. Plus PPE.


Cheers

Hi Thumbsucker,
firstly safety being paramount what I am suggesting is to firstly use a water bath on your electric hotplate outdoors then place another container in the water bath .
1-firstly you will need to set up one pot with your wax components and heat those until melted into a liquid form.
2-Heat in another container in a water bath your chosen solvents and slowly raise the temperature to around 40 degrees C. (be aware all of the mentioned solvents/Oils have a flash point of 45-50 degrees C) You will also have to set up a Stirring /Mixer that slows agitates this warm solvent before slowly adding the molten wax. The addition rate will be a matter of trial and error in order to finish up with a soft homogeneous paste.
Again whilst all of this is quite routine in industry where stainless jacketed vessels are used with built in agitators and often enclosed to contain vapors it is very difficult to do this safely at home unless you have access to small scale laboratory equipment. Industry often uses steam for heating and then water cooling to obtain accurate temperature control. In looking at your MSDS reference I note it was white spirits not mineral turps which means that is a much lower aromatic product and local std mineral turps would likely be close.
Orange Oil/Limonene is recorded as having a pH of around 5.2 which is slightly acidic but this pH may be higher after the steam distillation process used by industry. Micro-crystalline wax is really a de-oiled Petrolatum produced as a by product of oil refining and would closely resemble Petroleum Jelly in properties. I have seen aerosol products that are mainly wax based for temporary protection of metal garden implements. Whilst not being at all sure of your end use requirements I would start with your recipe and increase the PE content as well as other waxes if you want to change the performance properties.
I would question how serviceable your mixture would be in terms of providing a protective finish and I would think other harder waxes such as Carnauba would be needed as well as other possible film forming materials. There are several companies here in Australia such as Howard Products that do have materials from a coating standpoint that offer very good performance especially for wood.
I am also attaching an reference article regarding micro-crystalline waxes that may help in your experiments.
Cheers,
Paintman

Thanks Paintman I have copied your post into my notes and I will give try it.

Once I can get all the equipment ready.

Carefully.

I purchased 1kg of micro crystalline wax pellets for $20 from eBay. I then purchased 1 litre of white spirits.

I have been thinking about how I could blend these together with the limited tools I had. Without blowing myself up.

My digital scales are broken so I just used cup ratio measurements.

I took half a cup of micro crystalline wax and added it to 2 cups of white spirits together in a heat proof container with a lid loosely fitted.

Being cautious I stepped up my tempts of a water bath - placed outside at a safe distance

Attempt 01 - heated 10 litre pot of water to 45ºc - (testing with a digital probe) - did not get hot enough to melt wax
Attempt 02 - heated 10 litre pot of water to 65ºc - (testing with a digital probe) - did not get hot enough to melt wax
Attempt 03 - heated 10 litre pot of water to 90ºc - (testing with a digital probe) - success

The micro crystalline wax melts at about 80 - 85ºc but I was afraid that the white spirits would become volatile at this temp.
However the water bath without any flames or ignition source proved to be safe and the white spirits did not spontaneously burst into flames.

I left it for about ten minutes and the pellets started to soften and then I got a wooden stick and gently stirred the pellets it took about a minute and all the pellets dissolved fully.

I then took the wax container out of the water bath and let it cool.

The end product is a little softer (to much solvent) compared to the Conservator wax - tested it out on a tool handle tonight and it needed multiple coats to equal the Conservator wax.

However it worked well. Giving a good finish.

Tomorrow I am going to repeat the process and add another half a cup of wax to the wax solution I made today.

I will try to source some Polyethylene wax to add to the solution.

From what i can understand this product looks similar to your needs.

Kustom Grit Superfine and Microfine Grit 1 and 2 Set | Carbatec

Conservator wax just wax not an abrasive finish like Kustom is a cutting and polishing compound.

Conservator wax is wonder of the petroleum industry - nothing natural about it.

I was introduced to Conservator wax at University and loved it ever since.

However it is not popular because it an authentic petroleum industry product that smell like petrol and people want lemon or lavender scented wax.

Nothing light and fluffy about it. However it has the best working and operational properties for any wax I have used.

Honestly the fun in this the DIY aspect and the learning.

Not in the buying a ready made product.

I am keen to get Paintman feedback on my DIY method.

Okay - I melted down the wax mixture I made yesterday and added another 1/2 cup of microcrystalline wax to the mix. I let it cool and this is much closer to the Conservator wax in thickness spreadability.

My first ratio was:

1 part of microcrystalline wax
4 parts of white spirits

My new ratios is:

1 part of microcrystalline wax
2 parts of white spirits

My second ratio spreads on the the same as Conservator wax however it still feels softer I think this is were the Polyethylene wax might be needed.

Sounds like you are having fun with the experiments. I would just add that waxes both natural and synthetic can have wide variation in properties such as hardness,melting points and molecular weight etc and blending mixtures to get a good balance of properties is not an easy task. There are several experienced local companies who specialise in this area and who are represented on this forum. I would also expect commercial products would already be available if there was a real market need to justify the cost of small scale production. Cheers Paintman

- - - Updated - - -

Sounds like you are having fun with the experiments. I would just add that waxes both natural and synthetic can have wide variation in properties such as hardness,melting points and molecular weight etc and blending mixtures to get a good balance of properties is not an easy task. There are several experienced local companies who specialise in this area and who are represented on this forum. I would also expect commercial products would already be available if there was a real market need to justify the cost of small scale production. Cheers Paintman

Hi Paintman

As you say their are lots of furniture polish and wax companies making thousands of products.

And if I was just after wax I would plonk down my $52.83 plus shipping for 200ml of the genuine Conservator/Renaissance wax. But I am a nerd and making stuff is what I enjoy. It may not be perfect and it may not be like the big boy commercial product but F#ck it was fun to learn about. Nothing like homemade anything.

Conservator wax is a unique micro-crystline wax product. There are very few products like it. I spend and hour searching and only found three other products that seem similar and none available locally in Australia.

Most furniture waxes are based on beeswax and carnauba. In my opinion these natural waxes are not as good as a pure synthetic petrochemical man made wax product.

I think waxes like Conservator wax are NOT popular. I think it is a real specialty product sold to Museums, galleries, conservators and high end antique restores. I think amongst woodworkers it is not in common use. This limited appeal I think is what makes it so expensive.

However it is my preferred wax.

This is what Fine Woodworking had to say about

Renaissance Wax
65 ml/$14
This wax was my personal favorite. It has a white appearance like the other microcrystalline wax from Conservator’s, but with a stronger, mineral spirits smell. It is the most expensive wax and comes in the smallest container, so it is just as well that a little goes a long way. Renaissance was the easiest wax to apply; a very small amount gave thin, even coverage. It dried very fast but buffing it was no problem, yielding a very slick surface with a medium sheen.

Here are three microcrystalline wax that I have found.

https://www.thewoodworks.com.au/shop...e-clear-detail
Harvey&#39;s Conservation Wax – ACK
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop...x?item=53Z3110

U-Beaut Polishes - Traditional Wax. At $22 it's well below half the price of Renaissance wax and I'd reckon as good as if not better than most other waxes on the market today.

Has bees wax but only a very small amount approx a cupful to a 100 litre batch. Helps to make the wax smoother looking in the jar. Our other waxes are hard waxes high-melt paraffin and ozokerite (your fossil-origin waxs) plus carnauba wax the hardest natural wax.

Traditional wax doesn't finger mark, is food safe, and like all decent conservative waxes will need to be rewaxed from time to time as upkeep of the surface. This may need to be cut back if the surface gets a heavy build up over time. This can be done with out Polish Reviver if needed.

Apologies for the semi blatant advert.

Hope it's of some help to you.

Cheers - Neil

PS There are wax recipes in: "A Polishers Handbook" that may also be of help.