This summer has been a little nutty for me, so I haven’t had to chance to do as much painting as I would like. I’m really looking forward to school starting, so I can get back into a groove and get in my workshop a bit more often. Since I have been so swamped, one of my amazing retailers and our primary educator for MMS Milk Paint, Abbe Doll, has really stepped up to help me introduce the new colors and products in our line. Today, she’s going to show how to use the White Wax.
It is available to purchase from our retailers right now, if you want to give it a try!
Take it away, Abbe…
White wax is here! It’s still has the buttery smooth finish we love about the Furniture Wax, but with a soft white pigment, that will give your finishes a soft, muted, white-washed or limed finish.
First of all when you open the tub it looks good enough to eat. (Don’t eat it, though!) Anything that looks like whipped frozen yogurt or cream has to be great on furniture too, right?
I wanted to share with you a way to use White Wax that couples with our favorite uses for Antiquing Wax (read about it here). Today we will bring out the details on your piece by letting the wax settle in the nooks and crannies achieving seamless white detailed work without the headache of hand painting it in.
This solid oak coffee table is cute as can be in Mustard Seed Yellow, but how about softening it up a bit and bringing out some of the details in the skirting under the top? I didn’t want to deepen the yellow at all, so white wax is the perfect solution for keeping it sunny yellow.
The trim detail on this piece is just the perfect way to illustrate how white wax can bring out the detail of a piece, as well as softening the overall hue, but first let’s see how it changes the color on top:
We are creating a white washed effect, the white wax will settle in the wood groves and grain while simultaneously creating a durable seal on your milk paint. (This works best on a piece with a deep grain in the wood, like oak, or one that has a lot of texture in the surface.)
As you can see, the color is still very much yellow, but the brightness is subdued and the color is creamier.
Now the fun part…just as you would build up age with antiquing wax, we are going to brighten up details with the white wax.
Here is the skirting before the white wax:
Here is the skirting after:
Just let the wax build up in the groves and keep it light on the flat surfaces.
After you have built up the wax in the areas you want highlighted, smooth and work in any excess wax on the flat surface, leaving all the soft white pigments.
Isn’t that amazing? I love the layers of texture it creates, yet it’s JUST two steps: paint and wax!
Here is a wide shot before and after:
Before white wax:
After white wax:
And all cured and ready to display:
It creates a soft and subtle finish.
I really love how the curve in the skirt is highlighted now. This was effortless to achieve!
And all finished:
And for a different look: Try softening darker colors with the white wax. Here is white wax turning Typewriter to a charcoal gray!
Thanks so much for this awesome tutorial, Abbe! As I shared the other day, White Wax is one of my favorite products now (although it’s hard to choose a favorite!) It creates some beautiful looks and I can’t wait to show more.
White wax, simply beautiful! I love your book and you are always teaching us the latest and greatest….Thanks.
Brilliant! This is such a great idea and I love not only how it looks, but how it saves time by combining two steps in one. Can’t wait to try it!
I LOVE the affect! But am wondering if the white wax sitting in the grooves (in detail of apron for instance) ever dries completely? And if so, how long does it take? That’s a whole lotta wax in there!!
This…I love! High five to white wax!
Love that look! Have to pick me some up!
I’m waiting for it to arrive in Belgium! Can’t wait!
I can’t wait to use the white wax!
I REALLY love it in the nooks. So nice. I need some advice on waxing – what happens if you put on too much, and how do you mediate it?! I meant to ask it during your Haven class, but was too giddy with painting excitement.
Excited to give the white wax a try! I love how it hugs the crevices and gives a bit of interest to the embellishment of the piece. Lovely!
My white wax just arrived Saturday and I can’t wait to use it! Hopefully it will mean that I can stop doing the messy whitewash effect! I have the dark wax and it it great and it makes such a difference in a piece.
I love this look and how it softens the paint tones. There are many possibilities it seems! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Ahhhh…. I can see now. When we tried the white wax at Haven, I didn’t appreciate it – now I can see how it gets into the grooves – it really looks like a painting embellishment in this yellow piece. Another MMS product that I’m going to have to purchase! I also really want a wax puck. . .
-breida
Gorgeous!! I cannot wait to order some!!
I loved working with your white wax at Haven. Can’t wait to get some for my own furniture. x
Am I the only person who liked the before better than the after?!!!
Wonderfully beautiful white wax! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! Can’t wait to buy some & try it out. I really love this mustard seed yellow table too!
This is really beautiful! I have a coffee table am planning on painting, and I wondered what happens to the wax finish if someone happens to set a wet glass on it. Does it leave a ring? Is it fairly durable? I have no experience with the wax at all so I have no idea what the most appropriate use is for it.
Wax is very durable and water resistant. I have it on my kitchen table (and many of my dining tables) as well as the surface of our built-in office desk and all have held up very nicely without water rings.
This looks just beautiful!
where can I buy soft white wax on line? I have looked and can’t find it. All listed suppliers of the milk paint are more than 100 miles away so would like to find it on line.
Can’t wait to get my hands on some White Wax!
It does look good enough to eat! lol. Can’t wait to try it! Over paint that is!
What a nice addition to the world of furniture painting. I have been tinting wax but it does not seem to give the same effect. I think a gray wax would be great as well.
Have you tried this lovely white wax over anything painted with chalk paint yet? It seems like it should work well….,,
I actually ordered your white wax and received it last week from Robyn Storey and took advantage of the free shipping offer. I can’t wait to try it. I imagine it will give that light Swedish look on a piece with detail. Thanks for developing it!
Wow, this is a really nice finish! Thanks for this lovely tutorial, Abbe. Look forward to trying it!
This stuff really adds another dimension to the piece. I have a question. Can this be used with ASCP too? Thanks for the tutorial and blessings Paula
Yes, definitely. This can be used with any other paint you can use a wax on.
Is this what you will use on your dining chairs? I cannot wait to see those!
Love it, just love it! It is just a different look.
I have used liming wax for a while now, saw it on the BBC show, Changing Rooms, where two couple exchange homes and they each get a designer and they change one room. I fell in love with it. I used some on a chair I painted with Annie Sloan’s Greek Blue. Just a light dusting and it gave it a weathered chalky look with a slight sheen. I love this stuff and am thrilled i can now get it from you.
Thanks for having great products.
Oh, how pretty!! This may be exactly the thing I’ve been looking for. In my bedroom I have a large armiore and a dresser w/mirror, I want to paint it but don’t want it to be too dark and this wax may just be the answer. Thanks so much for the new, great product. sometimes I have a problem getting too much dark wax on the piece. The yellow table is as cute as it could be! 🙂
Oh la la!! I can’t wait to get my hands on some of that wax!!!
i need help..i love painting pieces white..what color glaze or was or whatever can i use to give it a softer antique-y look..brown makes it look yellow…black makes it look to modern…help
Dear MMS, How sweet of Abbe to help you out and what an excellent tutorial. I have some MMS yellow that I haven’t tried yet so this inspires me to get going. Love the before and after. Hugs, Anne Boykin
Awesome!!! Can’t wait to try this!
LOVE that white wax! I will have to add that to my list! Life to the full! Melissa
Oh golly!! One more thing to put on my list to try!! It looks fan-tab-ulous!
Just purchased the white wax and Eulalie’s Sky paint! I really, really, really want a print of her, but it’s rather pricey!!
I would like to paint roses over the base coat of paint. Would I put the white wax over that or do the white wax then paint the roses? Can I use a poly seal over that? Can’t wait to try this new technique.
Would the new white wax work over bare wood? I bought a scrubbed antique table–it looked almost as light as pine, but with a fine grain. I made the mistake of oiling it with lemon oil, and it became apparent it was actually a rich brown walnut or something similar. We prefer the scrubbed look. I wish I had just waxed it without oiling it, because I think the plain wax would not have darkened the color.
I wonder what would happen if I applied white wax to the medium brown wood. Would it have a limed effect?
Thanks!
I just used it on a primitive paint peeling child’s cabinet I purchased. Oh my…so I love it or what!!!! I softened the the look of the weathered paint and gave it the most luscious finish. Yep, I’m in love.
Too bad these pictures aren’t still up. 🙁