# Homemade hardwax oil?



## Canada (Jan 4, 2012)

Hi all, 

I'm new here. I operate a hardwood flooring business out of Toronto. I'm just curious to know what hardwax oil really is. I know most of it is a sales pitch. I'd like to make my own if it's possible. I've gone through some MSDS sheets from various manufacturers of hardwax oils and natural wax finishes. Most don't list much except the cobalt dryers. I think I've seen xylene.

I'm just wondering if anyone here has ever made their own. All these companies claim to have "special blends of natural waxes and oils", but then claim you can always top coat with polyurethane. You can't put poly over wax, it won't adhere very long. So what's really in the stuff?

I've experimented with carnauba wax mixed with walnut oil and carnauba/beeswax/safflower oil (both tried on cutting boards) and it pretty much all behaves the same. It takes a day or two for it to dry off so that it doesn't leave streaks. It's somewhat water proof but a water puddle left on over night will leave a stain.

Any insight appreciated.


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

Canada said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm new here. I operate a hardwood flooring business out of Toronto. I'm just curious to know what hard-wax oil really is. I know most of it is a sales pitch. I'd like to make my own if it's possible. I've gone through some MSDS sheets from various manufacturers of hard-wax oils and natural wax finishes. Most don't list much except the cobalt dryers. I think I've seen xylene.
> 
> ...


not familiar with hardwax brands, but i do know that the modern wax coatings we were working with were a combination of tung, TEA, and micronized polyethylene wax, xylene and cobalt as the drier for the oil among other things proprietary.

Polyethylene is a high molecular weight wax, [think milk jugs] that has little of the normal wax properties as to fatty oily feel or softness, but retains the crystalline structure. It incorporates well with oil in a matrix of TEA [triethanolamine] so that the wax is suspended and not floating on the surface when dry. thus, minimizing any small percentage that is randomly on the upper surface. you could apply a coat of poly or vanish over it similar to putting it over dry tung coating since most of the surface wold be the dry oil film. 

This, however, does not mean any present commercial products are of the same make up. but could be similar. 

Who would carry these products i mention for the general public, i don't know.


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## Canada (Jan 4, 2012)

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping it would be easier than having to find a multitude of chemicals probably not available to small businesses. I'm sure it's not a matter of just mixing them up to make a finish. I guess it's best to stick with the stuff on the market or go with thinned out carnauba and oils and homemade recipes. I'd really like to know what these companies really put in their finishes they claim are 99% natural oils and waxes.

The hardwax oils popular with floors are brands like Osmo Poly X, Eukula, Rubio Monocoat.

Thanks again.


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

Canada said:


> Thanks for the reply. I was hoping it would be easier than having to find a multitude of chemicals probably not available to small businesses. I'm sure it's not a matter of just mixing them up to make a finish. I guess it's best to stick with the stuff on the market or go with thinned out carnauba and oils and homemade recipes. I'd really like to know what these companies really put in their finishes they claim are 99% natural oils and waxes.
> 
> The hardwax oils popular with floors are brands like Osmo Poly X, Eukula, Rubio Monocoat.
> 
> Thanks again.


I would imagine if you were to do a search for natural waxes and oils for wood coatings, you would find information.


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## Canada (Jan 4, 2012)

I've googled the subject to death and all I can find are the simple recipes which are 1:1:1 parts of oil, wax and thinners. They are very effective and give a nice soft feel and a really nice look to my woodworking projects. I can't find anything comparable to the low VOC hardwax oil finishes unless you add poly. I'm thinking I could try something like biodiesel as a thinner which apparently is very eco friendly and technically has no VOCs.

I think I'm just making things difficult for myself. Thanks for the info.


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

Canada said:


> I've googled the subject to death and all I can find are the simple recipes which are 1:1:1 parts of oil, wax and thinners. They are very effective and give a nice soft feel and a really nice look to my woodworking projects. I can't find anything comparable to the low VOC hardwax oil finishes unless you add poly. I'm thinking I could try something like biodiesel as a thinner which apparently is very eco friendly and technically has no VOCs.
> 
> I think I'm just making things difficult for myself. Thanks for the info.


From my quick search on my sites, it seems as if these ones your talking of may be the types where natural distilled oils are made of, such as rosewood oil. In that case, the essentail oils themselves have a degree of natural wax present in the oil. It's not a matter of blending another wax into or with them, ok?

If it were me in your position, i would be looking more into highly polymerized tung oil, where the need for waxes or other resins were not necessary to create a good coating surface. JMO :yes:


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## paragonremodeling (Sep 27, 2011)

You have gained lots of experience om homemade hardwax oil.


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## Canada (Jan 4, 2012)

Thanks again for the replies folks!:thumbsup:


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## Shastin Michelle (Dec 3, 2019)

*hardwax oil*

Hard wax oil is tung oil and carnauba wax i am curious to what ratio it is? I dont think walnut oil drys as hard as tung oil. a hard wax oil is prone to stains, and requires recoating for best results,and you also have to put enough finish on it, if it is staining easily


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## Shastin Michelle (Dec 3, 2019)

so from what i am getting from this is you mix tung oil and carnauba wax and xylene 1:1:1 to make hardwax oil. seems like a high ratio for thinning and drying, why xylene vs others like mineral spirits? I guess you just have to play with it, keeping in mind purchasing the oil and carauba wax may already have dryers and thinners in them, i know tung oil does


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Hey @Shastin Michelle - Do you realize that this thread is nearly 8 years old? 

Nobody above has visited WoodworkingTalk since 2013. I doubt they will come back.


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## Beebe (Mar 17, 2021)

I'm still interested in this. Looking to make my own. I think it's Linseed oil and carnauba wax. Anyone have a good recipe?


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## reas (Dec 21, 2021)

Beebe said:


> I'm still interested in this. Looking to make my own. I think it's Linseed oil and carnauba wax. Anyone have a good recipe?


Hallo und Servus!

Im Using in a concoction of
400 g Linseed oil
150 g beeswax
150 g black pine tree resin (Austrian Resin Extraction - Wikipedia)
300 g spirit of turpentine (Turpentine - Wikipedia)

Heat up the oil to 170 -180 Celsius for 2 hours and stir occasionally that some oxygen gets into the oil. Leave it for a day and repeat the procedure. on the second day when the oil or better the linsees varnish cools down, add the beeswax and the pine resin (has to be cooler than 62.5 degree Celsius, otherwise all the good stuff in the resin vaporizes or gets inactive) and when its under 40 C pour in the spirit of turpentine. Fill everything in air thight jars and shake for better mixture.

if the treated wood is under uv exposure, ad pigments.

Cheers and greetings from Austria

REAS


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## Mildred Alston (11 mo ago)

reas said:


> Hallo und Servus!
> 
> Im Using in a concoction of
> 400 g Linseed oil
> ...



Hello reas

I was looking for this information too. Thank you for sharing. I want to try it right now.


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## Rl Shearin (18 d ago)

Canada said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm new here. I operate a hardwood flooring business out of Toronto. I'm just curious to know what hardwax oil really is. I know most of it is a sales pitch. I'd like to make my own if it's possible. I've gone through some MSDS sheets from various manufacturers of hardwax oils and natural wax finishes. Most don't list much except the cobalt dryers. I think I've seen xylene.
> 
> ...


Here are the chemicals in the hardener, The oil is pure 


Canada said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm new here. I operate a hardwood flooring business out of Toronto. I'm just curious to know what hardwax oil really is. I know most of it is a sales pitch. I'd like to make my own if it's possible. I've gone through some MSDS sheets from various manufacturers of hardwax oils and natural wax finishes. Most don't list much except the cobalt dryers. I think I've seen xylene.
> 
> ...


Here is a list of chemicals in the hardener. the oil is innocent, the harder is viscous. 


https://ardec.ca/media/catalog/documents/MSDS_Rubio_Monocoat_Oil_Plus_2C_-_comp._B_EN.pdf


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## Jay_L (Oct 16, 2020)

Rl Shearin said:


> Here are the chemicals in the hardener, The oil is pure
> 
> Here is a list of chemicals in the hardener. the oil is innocent, the harder is viscous.
> 
> ...


Misconception about isocyanates:
HDI oligomers listed on the SDS have high molecular weights and don’t volatilize unlike lower molecular weight monomers so they don’t pose an inhalation risk unless applying via atomized means in an unventilated area, or from exposure to copious amounts of unreacted sanding dust. The 1,6-diisocyanatohexane poses a risk in high concentrations, but given the concentration of < .1%, the risk is extremely minimal, especially due to the prescribed application method.

We used to shoot transportation coatings such as the earlier DuPont Imron and the catalyst contained the lighter more volatile isocyanates and there have been unsubstantiated claims of deaths caused by working with the earlier product prior to the more current and safer formulations under the Axalta Imron label.


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