DIY: Reviving an Antique Wooden Box

I recently acquired this wooden box at an estate sale.

While I love its size –

just right for hanging on the wall to display pretty things,

it had lost its initial luster.

It was super easy to revive the box; less than an hour’s laboring.

Here’s how I restored the antique wooden box’s original beauty.

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First, mix up some Murphy’s Oil Soap

according to the instructions on the bottle.

And wash the box, getting all of the old grunge off.

Allow it to dry good, probably overnight before proceeding.

After the wooden box is dry, apply the Johnson’s Paste Wax

to the box using a soft cloth and following the label instructions.

Be sure to rub with the grain of the wood on the box.

Do this all over on one side.

After the wax has dried to a haze,

buff the wax with a clean, soft cloth.

Allow it to dry before turning over and repeating on the other side.

I have tried to rush this process and ended up with marks

on the underside where the wax hardened

while pressed up against my holey table.

Don’t do that.  It isn’t pretty!

After it is dry, asses the box.

If you are happy with the way it looks, you are finished!

I wanted my box to be a little darker.

So, I repeated the above waxing process

with Minwax Paste Finishing Wax – Special Dark.

Yes, I could have just used the colored wax first,

but I think it soaks in too much on the old dry wood

creating a super-dark appearance.

If you want your box really dark,

you could simply skip the clear Johnson’s Paste wax step.

Here’s the box with the left half waxed with the Minwax special dark 

and the right side with just Johnson’s Paste wax

 so you can see the difference the dark wax makes.

Here’s the finished box!

It really is that easy to revitalize an antique wooden box!

Blessings~
Amy

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