Does dark wax scare you?

In the past, dark waxing has made me nervous when aiming for an antique look on a piece of furniture. But I am gaining confidence and getting some nice results when I do take the leap of faith and go for it. This simple picture frame makeover is a great place to start when you are practicing with any kind of dark wax or antiquing wax.

Practice on a Picture Frame

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how I used Miss Mustard Seed‘s Antiquing Wax to create an aged look on a picture frame.

The picture below shows you the difference between the Antiquing Wax (on the left) and the unwaxed side on the right. I had painted this frame using Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in the colour, Kitchen Scale, and sanded back the edges for a distressed finish.

Again, you can see the darkening of the left side where the antique wax has been added, compared to the bottom of the frame where nothing has been added.

Above: No wax

Below: Antiquing wax added 

Here’s how I applied the wax below, using a wax brush or in this case, an old brush I had on hand with natural bristles. Get right into the crevices with the wax and feel free to brush it all over the whole surface or wherever you want to add depth.

Note: you do not have to use clear wax to begin with when you are using MMSMP Antiquing Wax.

In this case, I went ahead and brushed it over the entire surface, not just in the crevices.

Here’s what it will look like when you have brushed the wax on:

Then get yourself a clean buffing cloth (muslin is good and so is a Chux wipe)

Rub off the excess wax across the entire surface, turning your rag to a clean side as you go.

Below you can see where I’ve wiped the excess off on the right, and haven’t wiped the left side.

And there you have it – a lovely frame ready to hang a picture or just ready to hang as is!

Happy Painting!!

If you are interested in a workshop and live in the Brisbane/Logan area, please click on the Workshop tab here on our website for more information.

Workshops are a fun and hands on way to explore Milk Paint and the many different finishes that can be achieved with it.