Making a Food Safe Finish

Personally, I don’t use any paints or stains on my projects with the exception of items made with purple heart or padauk. These woods are affected by ultraviolet light and will turn brown over time. I use them only for embellishments on box lids and they get a couple of coats of Helmsman Urethane with ultraviolet inhibitors to preserve the color as long as possible.

I make a food-safe finish that adds a golden hue to light colored woods like oak or maple, but it brings out the color and woodgrain of darker woods like walnut. It will darken mahogany at first, but the color will be enhanced as the finish cures. The recipe is simple and has only two ingredients: bee’s wax and mineral oil.

Mineral oil is cheap and available at any drug store. I found bee’s wax in the candle making supplies. Other oils like olive oil can be substituted for mineral oil, but I have never tried it.

A double boiler is necessary when melting bee’s wax. I melt it in a tin can sitting in a pot of boiling water. The temperature of the wax should be held between 104ᵒ and 122ᵒ Fahrenheit. When all the wax is melted, I mix 2 ounces of bee’s wax per cup of mineral oil in a container that can tolerate the temperature without becoming distorted, using a wooden spoon to stir the mix. The mix will set up within an hour or so. The spoon will be treated with the mix and will look better than before.

This is a general recipe that works most of the time, but I find that not all bee’s wax has the same characteristics. It the cooled finish is too dense to easily wipe onto a cloth or brush, I reheat the surface with a heat gun and add more oil until the mixture flows well when cold. If the mix is too oily, melt a little more wax into the mix until the consistency meets your needs.

This is the same mix that I use on cutting boards and charcutier boards as well as my jewelry/keepsake boxes.

This finish looks good at first, but over time, the wood will dry out again and may become dull and lifeless. A light coat of mineral oil will refresh it to its original beauty.