DIY Guide On How To Make Natural Wood Furniture Polish

Environmentally friendly and free of toxic chemicals, natural wood polishes bring back the shine of your wood furniture in no time. Not only that but they also heal and nourish the wood and act as a dust barrier. If this sounds amazing to you, it is time to learn how to make a natural wood furniture polish at home.

Don’t worry! It’s quick, easy, and inexpensive. This homemade polish requires only three basic ingredients and about two minutes of your time.

Check out the recipe and tips for using the natural furniture polish below.

How To Make Wood Polish

To make this natural wood furniture polish, all you have to do is mix the ingredients listed below in a bottle or jar and use the polish on any type of wood surface. The homemade furniture polish cleans, moisturizes, and protects the wood surface. And, while doing so, it won’t fill the air with toxic chemicals and aerosol fumes as commercial wood polishes do.

Orange Oil Wood Polish Recipe

• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ cup white vinegar
• 20-24 drops orange essential oil

Mix ingredients then use a cloth to apply the polish. Rub the polish on the furniture in a circular motion.

Alternatively, dry a few orange peels and use them to infuse the olive oil first. You will make the DIY wood polish smell even better. Make sure the orange peels are properly dried before infusing the oil as fresh peels can cause mold to form in the olive oil. To make orange infused olive oil, place the orange peels in a glass jar, cover them with olive oil, and let infuse for approximately 6 weeks. Then remove the peels and substitute the orange infused olive oil for the regular olive oil in this recipe.

The vinegar will clean the surface while the olive oil will make it shine. The orange essential oil prevents the wood from drying out, counteracts the smell of the vinegar, and ads a fresh scent to the natural wood polish.

Alternative Furniture Polish Recipes

The orange oil wood polish is one of our favorites but not everybody will like it as much as we do. This doesn’t mean you have to continue to rely on commercial furniture polish. There are other ingredient combos you might like better. Here are a few suggestions:

Lemon And Olive Oil

To make this natural wood polish, you have to mix olive oil with lemon juice using a 2:1 ratio. Just as with the orange oil wood polish, you need a cloth to rub the oil-lemon mixture on the furniture.

Beeswax And Olive Oil

Start by melting ½ of beeswax in a heat resistant bowl over a boiling pot of water. Add 1 ½ cup of olive oil. Mix well then pour the mixture into a glass mason jar to harden. When you are ready to use the furniture polish, microwave for about 30 seconds. Grab some polish on a soft cloth and apply it on the furniture.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is another great oil you can use to polish furniture. You can simply dab a cloth in the oil and apply it on the wood surface as it is. Make sure you clean the surface first! Or you can mix the coconut oil with a few drops of your favorite essential oil to add a lovely scent. You’ll have to melt the coconut oil if you want to mix it with essential oil.  

Why Do You Need To Polish Furniture

Time takes its toll on your wooden furniture and the shine fades away. If you want to bring back the shine and luster, you have to polish the surface. Many people use chemical polish because it’s convenient. However, the commercial polish only coats the surface as the synthetic ingredients do not moisturize the wood. With homemade furniture polish, you not only make the surface shine but you also moisture and heal the wood. Since the wood surface is nourished with an oil-based polish, the shine will last for longer. We talked about this and other benefits of using natural furniture polish instead of commercial ones in the following paragraphs.

Benefits Of Oil Wood Polish

As a general rule, wood furniture with wax or oil finish needs to be polished at least once or twice per year. Otherwise, the wood will become dry and the furniture will lose luster and shine.

Moisturizes Wood

Just like your skin, wood needs moisturization in order to be healthy and not look dull. Most synthetic polishes are silicone-based, thus they do not moisturize; they simply add a layer of shine on top of the wood. It’s like using foundation without moisturizing first. Ideally, you nourish the wood, not just make it shiny. Oil is so much better than any silicone-based product because it traps the moisture inside, creating a barrier that protects the wood against particles that can damage it and keeping dust away. If you want your wood furniture to stay in top condition, oil is a much better option.

Affordable

Making furniture polish at home is cost-effective. You probably already have all the ingredients you need to make the polish and it takes only a couple of minutes to put the mixture together.

No Buildup

Commercial polishes can cause haze. As we already mentioned, most synthetic wood polishes have a silicone base. What we didn’t mention before is that silicone tends to bond with itself so, with every new application, you basically add another layer. This leads to buildup and, overtime, the furniture ends up looking dull and dirty. Moreover, silicone collects dust so, if you use a commercial polish, you have to dust the furniture all the time.

With natural furniture polishes like the ones we talked about today, none of this will happen.

Tips For Polishing Furniture

While homemade furniture polishes work like a magic trick, it is still important to know how to polish furniture properly.

The most important thing you should know is that wood surfaces should always be polished with a soft and clean cloth that’s preferably lint-free.

Before polishing, use a clean cloth to remove dust and residue.

If you used many commercial polishes in the past and you noticed a buildup problem, you should remove the wax buildup layers first and only after switch to a natural furniture polish. Homemade furniture polishes are great but they cannot undo all the damage done by the synthetic ones.

What Can You Do With The Homemade Furniture Polish

Polish wood surfaces, of course. But which ones? While you can use the homemade natural polish on pretty much any wood surface, if you have hardwood floors it is best to do a test first. Some wood floors have sensitive finishes that do not interact well with vinegar. Test the polish on a small area first. You can use the alternative recipes that don’t require vinegar if the original recipe doesn’t work for your hardwood floors.

Furthermore, olive oil is slippery so you should avoid using homemade furniture polishes on the floor if you don’t have time to let the floor dry properly.

As for furniture, this homemade wood polish works pretty much on any type of finish. But if you want to be sure, test it in a small concealed area first.

You can also use this homemade polish on:

• Wooden utensils;
• Wooden cutting boards;
• Wooden doors;
• Picture frames made of wood;
• Wicker baskets;
• Wooden chairs.