Candle Polish Wood

My bathroom was designed with the towel rack as far as possible from the shower. I placed a couple hooks near by to fix that. Over time the hooks worked loose. They still did the job but looked awful. With some poplar and a candle I made it nice again.

A few great things about doing a candle finish:

• No noxious fumes.
• It's non-toxic.
• Application is fast and simple.
• It's cheap! (One candle does a lot of projects).

I'll take you through the whole project but if you just want the polishing part skip to step 3.

I used the hook to guess a measurement on how tall the wood backing should be. I just wanted it a little taller than the hook itself. After cutting the wood I rounded the edge over with a 3/8" router bit. You can see the old hook locations in the last 2 photos.

Using my trusty square I marked pilot holes for the hardware. I drilled six holes and countersunk two for mounting it on the wall. Those will eventually be covered by the hooks. Before moving on I sanded it with 220 grit sand paper.

To do this I used a plain white candle, propane torch, and heat gun. The torch melts the wax off the candle fast. Once there was a line down the center I used a sponge applicator to spread it around. Since it's wax it solidifies when cool. To help the application I used a heat gun. Don't use a torch to heat the wax on the wood. You could burn it.

When the wood is evenly coated, load a paper towel with wax. Do this by dripping the molten wax on directly on the towel. Rub the waxed towel in small circles against the entire surface.

By now you should have a shine building up. Finish by buffing the wood with a few drops of water and a cotton cloth.

Note: Don't wear the shirt you'r wife got you for Christmas while doing this. Wax is difficult to get out of clothing.

Thanks for reading.