Hello,
My wife and I used the Looking Glass Beeswax on our new red pine floors and love the way it came out. We just installed unfinished butcher block counter tops and are wondering if Looking Glass Beeswax is an appropriate choice for a finish. The data sheet mentions that it’s not suitable for areas with standing water, so we wanted to get some input about whether this would work given that we will have a sink mounted in the countertop.
Also, mineral oil seems to be the standard finish for butcher block, so we would love to hear the similarities and differences between Looking Glass Beeswax and food grade mineral oil.
Many thanks,
Hello there,
Looking Glass is used for Cutting Boards and Cast Iron and such. The difference between mineral oil is substantial due to a petrochemical waste byproduct. However, the Beeswax Polish is the densest, cleanest, natural resin I know of.
5 coats of Mountain is best for standing water counters, workbenches and such.
For residential and commercial butcher block:
Melted Looking Glass Beeswax Polish applied to rough sanded butcher Block can penetrate deeply. Then we sand the pores closed and apply again and again until the wood fiber cell is fully saturated. It is left finely sanded and the pores are smooth and closed with a beautifully polished wood surface.
This method can be polished and maintained forever. It requires simple maintenance about once a year for the first 2-3 years and then generally gets super resilient. I’d still maintain it and polish it up occasionally.
Schedule Example:Sand: 35- 50 – 80 grit, apply 1st coat @ 150F melted wax finish, scrape to push into pores, sand 80-100- apply- 100-120- apply- 120- 220- apply- 220, 320, 400, Polish, 400, 600, 100, Polish.
Maintenance: Wash with Earth Clean and repeat last sanding grit before applying a freshen up coat to polish. Even daily cleaning is a polishing opportunity, if desired.
Best of luck with your project!
Earthpaint Technical Team
The Painters Library 