How to Make Waxing Furniture Easier

Shanna Gilbert
by Shanna Gilbert
I’ve been working on this beast of a dresser for a while now, so I’m so happy that the unveiling is now here!!
I found this dresser, and a mate, off Craigslist last winter. On the ad, there weren’t any dimensions, but Topher had a giant SUV, so we knew they should both easily fit.
The guy from the ad also said he would be there to help lift them if needed.
When we arrived at his house (which was gorgeous by the way), we walked in and turned the corner and there they were. They. Were. HUGE.
Topher immediately gave me the you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me look.
Topher explained to the guy that there was no way these were both going to fit in his vehicle. The guy assured him they would, and they tried lifting one up.
Here is the problem: these weigh about a million pounds a piece. Here is problem number two: the guy was tiny. As in smaller then me tiny.
They got the first dresser about 3 inches off the ground, and they had to put it back down. That is when I got the I-am-really-unhappy-with-you look, number two.
So we unloaded all of the drawers and tried again this time with me helping. It wasn’t much better, but we did manage to drag it out the door and down the steps. Then we went back for each extremely heavy drawer.
Then we went back and did it all over again with the second dresser.
This all took a long time, and you know the best part? It was -5 degrees outside, with the most fierce bone chilling winds I have ever experienced (and being from Kansas that is saying something).
So then we got both of the dressers inside the car after rearranging several times only to figure out that the drawers really wouldn’t fit in there also.
By this point, all three of us were experiencing something near frostbite, which lead to the you-are-so-going-to-hear-about-this-as-soon-as-we-are-out-of-earshot-of-this-guy look.
So we drove all of the way home, having no real way of unloading these bad boys by ourselves.
I’ll spare you the details, but lets just say Topher and I managed, but it wasn’t pretty, and since no one else was around, lets just say I was getting more then just looks.
All in all, we got them home, and I loved them. They were in rough shape, though, so of course that meant I was going to paint them.
After
Here is the before
I painted the shell with two coats of Plaster Paint in Native Stone. I then distressed the whole shell.


On the drawers, I gave them a sanding, stained them, and then coated them in several coats of tung oil.


Last I coated the shell in clear wax, and here is the exciting part, I used my new AutoRight cordless detailing polisher!


1. Attach the brush to the polisher and get some wax on the end of the brush (dip it, paint it on, or put it on the piece and spread it with the polisher).


2. Put your brush on your project and squeeze the trigger and cover the whole surface. I then let the wax sit awhile.


3. Put the little blue bonnet on your polisher and buff your whole project. That’s it.


I have buffed tons of furniture pieces by hand throughout the years, and I can tell you this polisher has made my life soooo much easier! No more rubbing until my wrists and fingers cramp up … not to mention always having to come up with clean cloths.
Shanna Gilbert
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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