A Natural Home

We use beeswax and tung oil. I like both, but they give a different look from each other.

A tung oil finish give off a sheen and makes the wood darker and more lusturous.  However, it does not give off a plastic look like polyurethane. Since we do not use any stain on our products, we love the look of tung oil to get the wood to really POP out and get darker.  Personally, I do not like the look it does to red oak.  Of course, I do not like red oak. In fact my dislike borders on hate.  Tung oil makes it really red and dark.  Cherry takes to tung oil very well, it is dark and radiant, and not too glossy. The best effect of tung oil with wood is walnut. It makes it super dark.

If you prefer a more matte finish to your wood, then do not use tung oil, go to beeswax. The beeswax give off a more subtle tone or flat finish.  A more european/  modern look can be made using beeswax.  I like beeswax on our furniture at home as I can run a small coat on it every year and it loves the wood and the wood loves it. It is easy to apply and goes on with just a small rag.  You buff it in and then rub it down 2 hours later. Easy to do and it smells good.  However, the drawbacks to beeswax are that it does not bring out the darkness of the wood. If you want walnut to really POP, don’t use beeswax.

If you are really daring and want to spend time and purpose to a project, you can hand apply 3 coats of tung oil, sanding with a fine cloth after each use, and then apply a coat of beeswax. This brings out the lusture of the wood, but cuts down on the edge that tung oil can bring to color. The beeswax also allows for a protective outer covering that is easy to re-apply later.

Well, that is my experience with natural tung oil and natural beeswax finishes.  I am sure that other people out there have had other unique experiences.  My general rule of thumb is matte=beeswax , and shiny and dark=tung oil.