# New dresser has dark wax finish that rubs off - Sealer?



## jdlamoreaux (Jul 27, 2012)

I just bought a beautiful wood dresser made in India with what I was told was Indian Rosewood. It's finished with an extremely dark brown stain color with (what I think is) a wax all over the entire surface, including the insides of the drawers. When I got it home I rubbed it down with a lightly damp cloth to clean it, and oh my, that dark brown stain/finish just comes right off! It gets all over my hands and saturates the rag. It's really laid on thick because even after so much coming off the dresser, it's still dark on the wood itself, barely any change.

So what do I do to prevent the finish from getting all over my clothes in the drawers? Just line it with contact paper? I would think any wood finish should cure so that this wouldn't happen.

I'm a total woodworking noob and just did my first refinish job from a table I found on the street. I had some polycrylic left over and thought I could used that, but the can says it won't work on wax.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

It sounds to me like it has Bri-Wax or a similar product for the finish. As far as keeping it off your clothes you can wipe the piece down with a rag damp with mineral spirits followed with a clean dry cloth to get the excess off. If you want to put a polyurethane over the piece you will have to thoroughly strip the wax off with paint and varnish remover. Even then there might be enough residual wax on it you may have adhesion problems in spots.


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## jdlamoreaux (Jul 27, 2012)

Thanks Steve, I really appreciate the input!!


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## Bill White 2 (Jun 23, 2012)

I will say again.......Wipe off the wax in the drawers REALLY WELL with odorless (right) mineral spirits, coat with de-waxed shellac. No odor, no stain. I use this process on some musty smelling antiques after blowing off years of crud/dust/cobwebs.
The outside is another issue if ya don't want to refinish.
Some of the overseas "fake" finishes are a bear to live with.
Bill


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## jdlamoreaux (Jul 27, 2012)

Thanks Bill. Now the other issue is that the whole thing is stinking up the whole bedroom. It smells like a garage. I'm wondering if the finish is oil-based, not wax. Anyway, I'm thinking of using shellac over the whole thing to seal in that nasty odor. Will this work?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Were you thinking of using the odorless shellac? Anything you use on it is going to smell. If you just wait it out the mineral spirit odor will dissipate. Also open the drawers some so the vapors can get out.


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## Bill White 2 (Jun 23, 2012)

jdlamoreaux said:


> Thanks Bill. Now the other issue is that the whole thing is stinking up the whole bedroom. It smells like a garage. I'm wondering if the finish is oil-based, not wax. Anyway, I'm thinking of using shellac over the whole thing to seal in that nasty odor. Will this work?


I would caution you that an overcoat w/ shellac is gonna leave the piece glossy. If you put on 2/3 coats, you'll be able to rub it down to a softer sheen with 0000 steel wool. Then, a coat of paste wax.
Sorry for all your troubles.
Think of it this way......look at what you're learnin'.:icon_smile:
Bill


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## jdlamoreaux (Jul 27, 2012)

Thanks Bill and Steve. (Steve - I meant that the actual finish stinks, not the mineral spirits). Yeah this dresser looks nice but what a pain it's turned out to be. That dark oily finish is so smelly but we didn't realize it till it was home a few days. Using mineral spirits to wipe the inside of the drawers really didn't help - it just took off a bunch of the finish, just like using a water-damp rag did. So what I've started to do is sand down the inside of the drawers to take off much of the stupid finish. Then I'll shellac the inside. Maybe that will take care of the odor enough so it won't get all into our clothes. I'm just thinking about shellacing the whole thing to really seal away the odor of that finish. I know that like you said it will make the whole thing glossy, but according to your advice, it can be dulled down a little? And what brand/specific product is the paste wax? Also - there is some decorative metal trim on it, I'm assuming shellac could just go over it.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Come to think of it these antique shops that sell old pine furniture with a wax finish always kept baskets of very aromatic spices setting around. I bet it was to cut down on the smell. 

The problem you are going to have putting a finish on your furniture is the wood has had wax put directly on it and it will be difficult to completely get rid of it. I believe I would use paint and varnish remover and strip the furniture just like it had a protective coating on it. Even then you may have spots where you could have adhesion problems. If you like shellac and want to finish with that the first coat I would use a de-waxed shellac on it. Personally I would probably put lacquer on it. If and when you have a problem spot it would be easier to fix with lacquer since it will melt into the previous coat. For example if there is a spot that the finish lifts because of the wax you can wash the spot down with a little lacquer and recoat the spot.


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## jdlamoreaux (Jul 27, 2012)

So my question to you experts is: why didn't this smelly wax finish cure in the first place?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

jdlamoreaux said:


> So my question to you experts is: why didn't this smelly wax finish cure in the first place?


 The wax is just not a finish. It is more similar to Johnson Paste Wax. It will never really cure like you would expect a finish would. The best you can expect is to get the excess off to where the smell dies down and you don't get it on your clothes. When this happens the furniture will get real dead and dry looking and then it will be time to put a fresh coat of wax on it. :laughing: Believe it or not when I had a refinishing shop, my next door neighbor had 30,000 sq. ft. of this type furniture and was selling it like hotcakes. Personally I don't like any finish other than a protective coating. For many years I used lacquer however I got tired of the finish being easily damaged by water and it is just softer than I like. I'm currently using oil based polyurethane.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Mineral spirits may remove most of the wax, but you need lacquer thinner to wipe it all off. As in using a stripper, any existing stain will likely also get removed. 

You can use a dewaxed shellac (Zinseer Seal Coat), and when dry you can coat with a lacquer sanding sealer, and then lacquer. Or, I prefer to use a waterbase polyurethane, which stays clear, dries fast, has no odor to speak of, and is an easy clean up. If you can spray any of these even better.

I wouldn't use an oil based product, as it will stink for a long time, and will smell up whatever is in the drawers.









 







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