How To Antique Furniture | Dark Wax Tutorial

Looking to add a naturally aged look to your project? Come learn more about how to apply Antiquing Wax to give your piece depth and bring out those beautiful details! Like the name says, you can use our dark brown antiquing wax to create an “antique” look. It will lightly “stain” your paint to make it look old. You can apply antiquing wax directly to your piece, or if you want a more subtle effect, you can use a coat of natural wax first. Watch this video to see our company co-founder, Rosanne adding Antiquing Wax to a chair in Vintage Cupcake!

Step 1) Paint your piece

Before applying wax, you'll want to paint your piece and let it dry for at least 24 hours. For more tips on how to paint your piece, check out our written and video tutorials.

Step 2) Apply antiquing wax with a wax brush or lint-free cloth

We recommend using one of Country Chic Paint's wax brushes for application as it makes it easy to get wax into all the little nooks and crannies, but some people prefer to use a lint-free rag. Simply swirl it into your jar and brush the wax onto your piece. The easiest method is to work in circular motions to spread the wax out.

Step 3) Store your supplies

If you leave your brush sitting out in the open air, it will eventually become hard, so after you've finished applying wax it's best to either wash it with warm water and natural soap (castile soap works best) or store it in a Ziploc bag. It's also a good idea to put a piece of Saran Wrap over the top of your wax before closing the lid. This will keep it soft longer and avoid a dry skin building up on the surface.

Step 4) Buff your piece

After you've applied antiquing wax you can begin buffing straight away. If you want more of the color to stay behind, you can wait an hour or two before removing the excess.

Using a clean, lint-free rag, buff the wax in circular motions until the surface no longer feels tacky. It will be dry right away after proper buffing, but keep in mind it will take 3-4 weeks to fully cure.

Some of the color will come off during buffing and more will remain in the nooks and crannies where dirt and dust would naturally build up, giving it a beautiful, naturally aged look.

We do not recommend using antiquing wax on seating surfaces as it can still give off small amounts of pigment even after it is fully cured, and you won't want to stain your clothes.

Step 5) "Erase" where needed

If you decide an area is too dark, you can easily remove the color by applying natural wax on top. Did you enjoy our video tutorial? Make sure to Subscribe to our channel to get access to all our videos! We would love to hear what projects you're working on, so make sure to leave a comment or post a picture of your project to our Facebook page or Instagram (@countrychicpaint)!