There are smart ways, using ammonia, I think to make furniture cream, but good honest beeswax polish can be made, basically, by mixing beeswax with turpentine (genuine, not substitute). I use a honey jar, either crumble up or put through a cheese-grater the wax, pour in turpentine (in about equal volumes), shake a bit, then wait overnight. Some advocate heating (e.g. in a water bath), but the mixture is extremely flammable and this is too dangerous for me. With patience, it will all dissolve anyway. Keep the lid on most of the time or it will dry out.

For application (e.g. to oak furniture), I use a bit of coarse hessian sacking kept for the purpose, leave to dry and finish off with a linen cloth.

Brian Styles

Another furniture polish which works well is 1 pt boiled linseed oil, 1/4 pint turpentine (min spirits), and 2-3 oz beeswax. Melt together carefully! It is extremely flammable so no open flame. Best way is boil some water in a large pot and put the ingredients in a smaller pot and then into the hot water well away from the source of heat.

Bill Truesdell