Polishing products, wax and abrasives

DIY recipes for floor, furniture, metal, car, stove, glass & more...

Car polish, furniture polish & wax

Most polishing and polishing agents are used to restore shine to surfaces that have become dull and inconspicuous through use. Most polishes contain oil or wax, sometimes in solution, sometimes as an emulsion, so finely distributed in water. Some emulsions are so unstable that the preparation must be shaken each time before use.

The wax-containing polishes give a shine that lasts longer; however, they must be rubbed out well. The oil polishes are much easier to bring to a shine; however, the gloss is lost very quickly. With all preparations for this purpose it should not be forgotten that a certain preparation is only suitable for a certain purpose. Universal preparations do not exist.

In addition, the polishing agents usually contain an abrasive, i.e. a hard, sharp substance, which has been ground so finely that no scratches occur during polishing. For grinding, one takes the same substances, but coarser. The scratches that arise during this process are later ground away during polishing. In principle, there is therefore no difference between polishing and grinding, only the fineness is different. The abrasives are glued to paper to form the well-known sandpaper, formed into sharpening stones with a binder or stirred into a paste with oil or emulsion.

About polishing wax

By adding a small amount of fat-soluble red or yellow aniline dye, the wax can be colored red or yellow. In general, polishing wax can be made with very different wax mixtures. For normal types, one takes half paraffin, while the other half consists of soft wax, which has a homogenizing effect. The chemical industry now supplies a large number of synthetic waxes that can completely replace the expensive natural hard waxes.

The chemical industry has also succeeded in making synthetic waxes, which are so soluble that a 35% solution at room temperature is still remains liquid.

A normal floor wax contains 27 to 30% wax mixture and 70 to 73% solvent. The solvent can very well consist of a mixture of real turpentine oil and artificial turpentine oil such as lacquer gasoline, petroleum distillate and white spirit. These last three products are all made from petroleum. They generally differ in volatility and resolution. Depending on the type of crude petroleum from which they are manufactured, they contain more or less unsaturated and cyclic hydrocarbons, which means that the dissolving power towards fats, waxes and oils can be very different. When ordering a substitute for turpentine oil, it is always best to state the purpose for which it is to be used.

The solvent also plays a very important role in liquid floor waxes. Above all, they are rather complicated mixtures of solvents, which make it possible to make a concentrated waxhing solution. It is clear that price plays a leading role in the manufacture of floor polish and furniture wax. Precisely because the manufacture is relatively simple and can be carried out with simple tools, one sees that they are often offered extremely cheaply. Only the production of a very good variety is then recommended in a small way. With the help of I.G. wax V a liquid furniture wax can be made that really meets the highest requirements.